Just Exactly Perfect

Just Exactly Perfect: Cautionary Tales of Skiing and Being in the Mad River Valley is a personal recollection of the author's initiation as a ski bum blended with his locally heralded ski columns four decades later. The book reveals the skiing life in the Vermont mountains, particularly Sugarbush Resort and Mad River Glen. It portrays the local well-known skiers, as well as the not so well known, those who ski the woods, the open trails, or test themselves on a race course. Some teach centered skiing or earn fame in Warren Miller movies. Brennan's ski columns are a surprising mix of ski tales and chairlift musings. With an eye for the essential philosophical questions, Brennan weaves together psychology, Buddhism, transcendentalism, Yankee proverbs, and Grateful Dead lyrics. He creates a reading experience as complex as six-sided snowflake structure. And he never misses a chance to inspire the skier to go get that powder day or sharpen their edges for Vermont's firmest conditions. The reader might even learn how to make their next ski day just exactly perfect.