The Wild West...did this stuff really happen?

Melissa at the Merry-go-round Museum in Sandusky, Ohio, June 2015.

"It was because of my great interest in the West, and my belief that its development would be assisted by the interest I could awaken in others, that I decided to bring the West to the East through the medium of the Wild West Show." -Buffalo Bill, Brainy Quote

 Today is Tuesday, July 6, 2015, a very hot and humid one here in Durham, North Carolina. The summer is passing by way too quickly for those of us who are teachers, but we are known for making the most of our time away from school. So far I have completed some household projects. I took things to goodwill, traveled to see family in Ohio and Kentucky, and I'm helping to plan my daughter's wedding. I'm singing in the church choir and I'm reading as much as possible. I'm also hiking three miles around the Duke Faculty Club as often as I can. I enjoy the shaded trail that is always full of other exercise enthusiasts. So, I think you could say that I'm accomplishing a lot.

During my recent trip to Kentucky, my mom suggested that I read the two books by Mary Doria Russell, Epitaph and Doc. I didn't think that I would get much out of these westerns, but Mom insisted that I take the books and read them because they are "very good." She added that she didn't want me to sell the books on Amazon, and she wants them back on my next visit. You see, I sell used books as an Amazon Seller (mch seller - look for my bargains!), and I've found that this is a good way to thin out some of the many, many books that I own. Any book that I find is fair game, so I'm glad that mom stated that she wants her two westerns back. So they will go in a separate pile.

It was slow going at first, but I began to read Epitaph and I can honestly say that I'm enjoying it. I don't normally read books in this genre, but I'm enjoying the tales of outlaws, cattle rustling, and domestic woes. The last book that I read was far from this kind of book, My Beloved World, by Sonya Sotomayor. Sotomayor's book is a memoir, not a novel, and its content covers events that really happened to a woman who is currently on the Supreme Court of the U.S. While Epitaph (the book that I'm currently reading) is a novel set in the Wild West and is largely fictional, it does use characters who actually lived during that time period, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, and it does involve events that actually happened during that time period.  I haven't finished the book yet, so I can't discuss all of it, but I can share some thoughts on the first half.

Wyatt Earp (1848-1929)

 Wyatt Earp is primarily known as a lawman as Russell's story unfolds. He is also a gambler and a saloon keeper. He is seen as a fairly trustworthy citizen of Tombstone, Arizona, yet he didn't always do the right thing. In the novel, he is trapped in an unhappy marriage of sorts, so he begins to flirt with Josie, a woman who is "married" to Johnny Behan, a dishonest Irish gambler/politician who is very cruel to his wife. Earp's good friend, John Henry "Doc" Holliday (1851-1887), is another major character in the book. He is a dentist, gambler, and gunfighter. The poor man had a chronic cough due to tuberculosis, and he dealt with this on a daily basis. His main goal is to find a place to live where he can breathe easily and live in peace. He feels that Tombstone may be just the place for him because he is beginning to make a decent living and is making friends.

Doc Holliday

I think that Russell does a great job as a writer of an epic tale. There are many, many characters, and their stories overlap in various ways. Russell's character development is very consistent and precise. She may not tell you everything about a character when she first introduces him/her, but she gives you many glimpses of the character in the way that the character behaves at home, at work, at the gambling table, and in the saloons. She strives to present a story whose details have often been shrouded in myth and legend, and yet we know that a lot of this "stuff" did actually happen. Although I'm not finished with the book, I have a feeling that the climax is going to be the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, an event in history that greatly influenced our perception of the Wild West and the somewhat weak justice system of the time. Or, this event might not be covered until Russell's next book, Doc.

Here are the next ten books in my card catalog:

1. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
2. Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
3. The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale by Thomas Nickerson
4. The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble
5. We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
6. Pastoral Counseling by Wayne E. Oates
7. Spiritual Writings by Flannery O;Connor
8. Lazy B by Sandra Day O'Connor & H. Alan Day (another memoir of a former Supreme Court Justice)
9. Are You Somebody? by Nuala O'Faolain
10. The Bluebird and the Sparrow by Janette Oke

Have a great day, and let me know what you're reading!

-Melissa Hill, Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com