The Polar Bear Waltz and Other Moments of Epic Silliness: Comic Classics from ""Outside Magazine""'s ""Parting Shots""

A perfect companion volume to Outside's recent silver-anniversary anthology, Outside 25, this collection of 67 images from the magazine's signature photo feature, the Parting Shot, will charm the polypropylene socks off adventure seekers and animal lovers alike. Products of both technical acumen and perfect serendipity, these photographs are the best of nearly two and a half decades of the magazine's popular ""caboose slot."" Though snapped by an impressive roster of nature photographers in places all over the world, the images can be loosely categorized by subject: there are cute furry or fuzzy things (a baby penguin cozily squashed between his parents); visual ironies (a squawking bird perched on a loudspeaker); people flying, either intentionally or not, through the air (a surfer tossed high by waves, skydivers plummeting through the ether); and ""take that, human!"" moments (a man falling off a raft, a lion munching on a video camera). Of course, some shots are simply interesting or beautiful-nothing to shake a walking stick at. But it's the wonderful, whimsical moments in which people and nature collide (sometimes literally) that truly delight.