Kayaking the Full Moon: A Journey Down the Yellowstone River to the Soul of Montana

After living in San Francisco for 10 years, Chapple ( Burning Desires: Sex in America ) tired of city problems and decided to move back to his native Montana. The first leg of the return to his roots was to be a kayak trip down the Yellowstone River from Gardiner, Mont., to the confluence of the Missouri. He and his wife outfitted themselves with high-tech equipment and professional guides, but they also brought along their two small sons, with the result that the yearlong expedition involved more time spent in hotels, motels and a rented recreational vehicle--dealing with live-in nannies, bouts of flu and concerns about the weather--than in roughing it on the river. There are white-water adventures, but most of this impressionistic, disconnected narrative is comprised of family reminiscences, snatches of history and conversations with innkeepers, bartenders, farmers, ranchers, native Americans and numerous other cantankerous and free-spirited Montanans, including the maverick dinosaur hunter, John (``Jack'') Horner. Some of these vignettes are amusing, but ultimately the reader finds the jumble tedious. (Aug.)