Book Review: Dead Man's Walk

Dead Man's Walk : A Novel by Larry McMurtry

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ahh, this is a great cowboy story. It's the first time I've ever read McMurtry who has written over 30 books, and I'm excited to read more. Dead Man's Walk is the first in a tetrology which includes the Pulitzer Prize winning Lonesome Dove. I think his writing flows beautifully, his dialogue is great and you can smell the sagebrush and taste the dry sand as he describes the West. I imagine that his story reflects some truth of how the West was explored which means it is not a light-hearted story. I was fearful of the Comanche Chief Buffalo Hump from his first introduction to the final scene. I can't imagine ever having the courage to cross the plains after hearing the stories of the Comanches and Apaches. It paints a picture of men (and a few women) who were courageous, adventuresome, careless and perhaps carefree enough to risk life and limb to the unknown. My favorite part of the book begins in the leper colony of San Lazaro, where a black or white bean determines the fate of the 10 remaining cowboys and continues to the final scene of Gus and Call helping a leper women on her journey home to England and have the ultimate face-off with Chief Buffalo Hump.



I would recommend this book to: Vaughn, Rex, Jay, Clark, Jerry, Darren, Dad, Uncle John and all other cowboys.


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