Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Of course, eventually, all of L'amour's great old pulp fiction will see book form and, as a huge Louis fan, I'm glad of it. But if you want to read L'Amour's BEST short fiction, this collection, the first, supervised by the author himself back in '75, is your finest bet!
L'Amour was a better writer in his pulp days than he will ever be given credit for. In fact, as a late purveyor of the pulp western's twilight era, I prefer him to Elmore Leonard, H.A. DeRosso, et al. These men were just self-conscious crime writers (with some hipper-than-thou neo-naturalist brightness and talent) who condescended, for a time, to sell westerns. L'Amour, on the other hand, was a believer! -- and BOY, could he knock off a tale!
Also worth noting is the story "The Gift of Cochise," expanded by James Edward Grant into the screenplay for John Wayne's movie HONDO. (L'Amour is now believed to have actually novelized this photoplay-- See Weinberg's LOUIS L'AMOUR COMPANION.) I believe the original story is far better than HONDO-- book or movie! L'Amour's original is more logical and realistic, and the love story works better with the dead husband as a good guy toward whom Ches (later Hondo) Lane feels a driving responsiblity. This was one of L'Amour's greatest perfomances.
Also, check out the other 'slicks' Louis wrote for COLLIER'S and the SATURDAY EVENING POST-- pure, smart story-telling! (Especially the forgotten 1960 Sackett story "Booty For A Badman.") The ladies will love his excursions into "Ranch Romance" territory-- "One For The Pot" and the title story. There's not a single dud here and the collection would be perfect if it included "Bluff Creek Station" (later collected in THE STRONG SHALL LIVE), my personal choice as L'Amour's greatest short story.
So buy it when you can, especially if you have never read Louis L'Amour! This anthology is a perfect introduction to an American legend.
Al
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Bud Miles was a boy when he crossed the Mississippi. But Bud buried his father after an Indian attack, and as the wagon train pushed on through Sioux country, the boy stood as tall as any man ... Tell Sackett killed cougars at fourteen and fought a war at fifteen. Now Tell was hauling dangerous freight--a soldier's wife and a fortune in gold--knowing that someone wanted him dead ... Laurie Bonnet was a mail-order bride who thought she was a failure on the frontier. But when the chips were down, she was the only one who could save her husband's life ... In these marvelous stories of the West, Louis L'Amour tells of travelers, gunfighters, homesteaders, and adventurers: men and women making hard and sudden choices and fighting battles that could cut a person's life short--or open up a bold new future on the American frontier.
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