Charles Gordon

Still at the Cottage: Or the Cabin, the Shack, the Lake, the Beach, or Camp Charles Gordon

In 1989, Charles Gordon wrote a book about the joys of life at the cottage called, well, At the Cottage. It was a huge success, selling thousands of copies every year since then. A copy sits, dog-eared and smeared with sunscreen, in every cottage worthy of the name, right beside the bird book with the missing pages.

Now, showing the same creative spirit when it comes to names, comes Still at the Cottage. Readers will be surprised to learn that some things have changed in cottage country, which is now real estate. Suburbanism proceeds apace; the store at the dock now stocks lawncare items (this is bad). But it also stocks more fruits and vegetables (this is good).

Gordon pokes affectionate fun at the surprising new technology available to people heading for the simple life at the cottage. He even proposes a solution to solve neighbour conflicts: some lakes should be zoned as napping lakes, others as jet ski lakes, others possibly as jerk lakes, and so on.

Monster cottages may gobble up rocks and trees, and traffic on and to the lake may be much worse. But this book, like the slap of the screen door, will remind you instantly why the cottage is a special place that needs a copy of this very funny book.