Guiding Elliott, first published in 1997, is a novel told through a series of letters written by Montana fly-fishing guide Donnie Phillips to a New York City fly-fishing club. Donnie lives amidst the best trout fishing in the West. He's a simple man who believes that women have no right to be on the trout stream and that oatmeal has no business being considered food. With a comic mangling of the English language, Donnie attempts to impart to city folk the wisdom of a "real" fly-fishing guide. But he gets carried away with hilarious accounts of small-town life, wacky characters, fly-fishing rivalries, and barroom brawls. A barrage of personal trials worthy of Job gradually transforms this stubborn man into one whose generous spirit makes him a hero in the eyes of the woman he loves. Full of raucous humor, great fishing lore, and surprising plot turns, Guiding Elliott blooms into a rich and vibrant evocation of the new West.