Gunsmoke and Grit

Happy Sunday, Everyone!  I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Sunday! I’m still battling a summer cold, and I almost considered skipping this week's post.  However, I decided at the last minute to share my weekly update with you all. This past week, I shared my thoughts on Tom Clavin's Bandit Heaven and highlighted Bandolero! by Arnold Hano for my Friday 56.  When I returned my loan at the library, I stumbled upon two paperback copies of Thomas Berger's Little Big Man in the free section. It's the tie-in for the 1970 film, yet it only bears the original 1964 copyright, with no updated copyright information. I've seen this exact edition listed for sale on various websites, including Goodreads, all incorrectly attribute its publication to 1964. The cover features Dustin Hoffman, the star of the movie adaptation, released December 23, 1970. Thus, I'm guessing this tie-in edition hit the shelves in late 1970 or early 1971.  I also dropped by my local Salvation...

Every Friday, I have the pleasure of sharing a snippet or two from my reading adventures—whether it’s from a book I’m currently diving into, a future pick waiting on my shelf, or a delightful surprise from my library. I’ll link this post to The Friday 56 meme, hosted by My Head Full of Books .  This week, I’m sharing a paragraph from " Bandolero! ," a novel published by Popular Library in 1967. Written by Arnold Hano, it is based on a screenplay by James Lee Barrett from a story by Stanley Hough. The book is a novelization of the 1967 Western film " Bandolero! " starring James Stewart, Dean Martin, and Raquel Welch. I stumbled upon the paperback at an antique flea market last Saturday, which I discussed in my Sunday Post . The clerk busily, methodically, his lips pursed as though he is counting to himself (and he is) stuffs the saddlebags with bundles of cash. Mace keeps his gun trained. Mace looks around the bank. For all its precision, the neat cubicles, the b...

BANDIT HEAVEN The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs  And the Final Chapter of the Wild West by Tom Clavin St. Martin's Press, 2024 ★★★★★ Robbers Roost, Brown’s Hole, and Hole-in-the-Wall were three hideouts that collectively were known to outlaws as “Bandit Heaven.” During the 1880s and ‘90s these remote locations in Wyoming and Utah harbored hundreds of train and bank robbers, horse and cattle thieves, the occasional killer, and anyone else with a price on his head. Clavin's Bandit Heaven is the entertaining story of these tumultuous times and the colorful characters who rode the Outlaw Trail through the frigid mountain passes and throat-parching deserts that connected the three hideouts―well-guarded enclaves no sensible lawman would enter. There are the “star” residents like gregarious Butch Cassidy and his mostly silent sidekick the Sundance Kid, and an array of fascinating supporting players like the cold-blooded Kid Curry, and “Black Jack” Ketchum (who had the dubious distinction of ...

Happy Sunday, Everyone!  I visited a large antique flea market in the city this past Saturday, marking my first trip there in at least a year and a half. It’s such a sprawling place that it takes a long time to see everything, so I’m sure I missed quite a few treasures along the way. In short, I ended up buying quite a few Westerns from the store. One booth caught my eye with a collection of older Zane Grey hardcovers, likely all first editions, each priced at a reasonable $6. Sadly, all except for two were in such fragile condition that I knew my book repair skills wouldn’t be enough to fix them. I didn't go for them, which I kind of regret, but I’d rather save my money for better copies down the line. Nonetheless, I did pick up the first edition of Under the Tonto Rim , pub. in 1926, and The Lost Wagon , pub. in 1936. At another booth, I found the first edition of The Thundering Herd , pub. in 1925, for $13, which I gladly bought. There was also a first edition of Riders of the ...

Every Friday, I have the pleasure of sharing a snippet or two from my reading adventures—whether it’s from a book I’m currently diving into, a future pick waiting on my shelf, or a delightful surprise from my library. I’ll link this post to The Friday 56 meme, hosted by My Head Full of Books .  Today, I'm sharing an entire paragraph from Stagecoach Station 1: Dodge City , published in October 1982 by Bantam Books , written by D. B. Newton (1916-2013) under the pseudonym Hank Mitchum. There were 52 books in the series. I found the first book, Dodge City , at an antique store earlier this year. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my horizon. Burt Channing lowered the gun without holstering it as he studied her. She was dressed for the street—and rather well dressed, Channing thought. She had jet-black hair, combed away from her forehead to a mass of curls, carefully arranged, at the back of her head. The dress, some rather shiny green material, was drawn in at the waist and...

THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by Stephen Graham Jones Saga Press, 2025 ★★✰✰✰ A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones. Dear Western Readers, Someone asked me if The Buffalo Hunter Hunter was a vampire tale, and while I initially thought it wasn't—since I hadn’t started reading it yet—the answer turned out to be yes... no... sort of! At its core, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a horror historical novel that delves into the grim realities of the Marias Massacre and the near extinction of the buffalo. The narrative unfolds from three distinct perspectives: a Blackfeet man named Good Stab, a Lutheran pastor,...

Happy Sunday, Everyone!  This past week, I had the pleasure of sharing my thoughts on Janice Holt Giles's memoir,  Around Our House , and I also featured Tom Clavin's Bandit Heaven . Next week is shaping up to be quite busy for me. I'm still working my way through The Buffalo Hunter Hunter , and I promise to have a review ready by Wednesday—come what may! Just a heads up, it might go up a little late that night, so keep an eye out for it. On Friday, I plan to share a snippet from Stagecoach Station 1: Dodge City by Hank Mitchum during Friday 56 .  In my reading list, I’m still reading Bandit Heaven next.  On the new acquisitions front, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of older books at the thrift store. Here’s what I found: The Man From Shadow Ridge by Brock & Bodie Thoene, The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy, Man Without a Star by Dee Linford, Big Bend by Richard Meade, Proud New Flags and Blue Hurricane by F. Van Wyck Mason, Each Bright River by Mildred M...

Every Friday, I have the pleasure of sharing a snippet or two from my reading adventures—whether it’s from a book I’m currently diving into, a future pick waiting on my shelf, or a delightful surprise from my library. I’ll link this post to The Friday 56 meme, hosted by My Head Full of Books .  I'm sharing something a bit different this week: a one-sentence sneak peek from the nonfiction book Bandit Heaven: The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West by Tom Clavin. I borrowed it from the library and will begin reading it very shortly. Well, that is the conventional story, and there is some truth to it. But Bob Parker's outlaw days began—albeit unintentionally—well before he became Butch Cassidy. ╌ page 56, Bandit Heaven ⁓B.J. Burgess

AROUND OUR HOUSE by Henry & Janice Holt Giles Houghton Mifflin Co., 1971 ★★★★★ In A Little Better than Plumb , Henry and Janice Giles gave us the story of the building of their log house and the threat that hung over it. Now, in Around Our House , they tell what came before they built the house and how they saved it from destruction. The warm and revealing story of the Gileses' daily lives covers the years from 1954, when they left the farm described in 40 Acres and No Mules , to 1970, when Janice published her book about the Second World War, The Damned Engineers . Around Our House is a patchwork quilt of the old and the new. Janice tells how she came to write her books and what each one meant to her. Henry describes the precedent-shattering project of moving the log house and how determination and ingenuity accomplished the apparently impossible. We share their delight in the visits of three lively grandsons and learn something of the joys and problems of the creative writer...

Happy Sunday, Everyone! This Past Week... I shared my insights on Lone Wulff , the latest book by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone. I also highlighted Stephen Graham Jones' The Buffalo Hunter Hunter  in my Friday 56 post. Coming Up Next Week…   This week will be a bit different for me. I’m going to review the memoir Around Our House b y Henry & Janice Holt Giles, which was published in 1971. While it’s not a Western, Mrs. Giles talks about her experiences writing frontier stories, including one of my favorites, Six-Horse Hitch . For the Friday 56, I’ll be sharing an excerpt from a nonfiction book titled Bandit Heaven , written by Tom Clavin, which dives into the legendary outlaw gangs of the Wild West. Bookmarked…    Tonight, I plan to start reading The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and will share my thoughts on it next week. After that, I’ll dive into Bandit Heaven .  New to the Bookshelf…  I haven’t had much luck finding old Western books at thri...

Every Friday, I have the pleasure of sharing a snippet or two from my reading adventures—whether it’s from a book I’m currently diving into, a future pick waiting on my shelf, or a delightful surprise from my library. I’ll link this post to The Friday 56 meme, hosted by My Head Full of Books .  I’m super excited to give you a little sneak peek of my next read, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. I know he usually writes horror, and I have a feeling this one might be in that vein as well, but with some cool Western vibes! I stumbled upon it at my local library and thought it looked intriguing, so I just had to check it out. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the snippet below. Happy reading! For at least ten years, there hadn't been enough beaver left to stack them up and trade like the old days, and, anyway, the traders didn't want them as much. Just winter-coat buffalo robes,  as many as we could bring in, so that we had to imagine all the napikwans in their ...

LONE WULFF Lone Wulff, #1 by William Johnstone  and J.A. Johnstone Pinnacle, 2025 ★★★★★ Once upon a time, Vance Wulff committed a bold but foolhardy crime. He robbed the private train car of the richest man in America: railroad and silver kingpin Mortimer MacCarney. Unfortunately, a trio of killers had the same idea. They arrived too late for the loot, but they knifed the wealthy man, his wife, and his son. Ever since that day, Wulff has been on the run—blamed for the murders he didn't commit. Now he's searching for the real killers. Trying to clear his name before a bounty hunter takes his head . . . The wanted poster calls him "Lone Wulff." The reward money ensures he's a dead man. Alone, accused—and desperate for justice—Waulff drifts from town to town, cattle ranch to mining camp, wagon train to army post, following a scant trail of clues to track down the murderous scum who've made his life a living hell. He's always on the move, leaving fledgling fri...

Happy Sunday, Everyone! I hope you're all enjoying the weekend! I've been dealing with a pretty annoying eye infection, but it hasn’t stopped me from diving into some reading. This Past Week... I shared my thoughts on Al Cody's The Outcasts and featured Ray Hogan's The Man Who Killed the Marshal for the Friday 56 .  Coming Up Next Week…  Today, I’m starting Lone Wulff by William W. and J.A. Johnstone, which just came out. You can expect my review on Thursday. For the Friday 56 , I’ll give you a sneak peek of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Yeah, it’s a horror book, but it’s set in the American West, so I’ll chat about different Western subgenres on the blog when I come across interesting ones. Bookmarked…    Once I’m done with Lone Wulff , I’ll jump right into The Buffalo Hunter Hunter , which I borrowed from the library on Thursday. I also picked up a nonfiction book, Bandit Heaven: The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild ...