- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (29 Mar 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345461010
- ISBN-13: 978-0345461018
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 1.7 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,891,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Scott Phillips is dark, dangerous, and important.
"Cottonwood" is crime fiction at its best."
--MICHAEL CONNELLY
""Cottonwood" is an adventurous, bawdy, and genre-bending epic. Scott Phillips cements his reputation as a fearless, ambitious writer who never makes a false move."
--GEORGE PELECANOS, author of "Hard Revolution"
"Cottonwood" is crime fiction at its best."
--MICHAEL CONNELLY
""Cottonwood" is an adventurous, bawdy, and genre-bending epic. Scott Phillips cements his reputation as a fearless, ambitious writer who never makes a false move."
--GEORGE PELECANOS, author of "Hard Revolution"
"From the Hardcover edition." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
In his New York Times notable debut, The Ice Harvest, Scott Phillips gave readers an instant noir classic that spanned twenty-four eventful hours in the life of a mob lawyer hoping to skip town (namely Wichita) with a small fortune. Phillips followed with the acclaimed sequel, The Walkaway, showing how a seeming windfall can wreak wicked havoc on the lives of its recipients. Now this award-winning author broadens his canvas, writing his most accomplished novel yet—one that is rich in suspense, drama, historical sweep, and Phillips’s unique blend of unforgettable characters.
In 1872, Cottonwood, Kansas, is a one-horse speck on the map; a community of run-down farms, dusty roads, and two-bit crooks. Self-educated saloon owner and photographer Bill Ogden looks on his adopted town with an eye to making a profit or getting out. His brains and ambition bring him to the attention of one Marc Leval, a wealthy Chicago developer with big plans for the small town. The advent of the railroad and rumors of a cattle trail turn Cottonwood into a wild and wooly boomtown—and with Leval as a partner, Ogden dreams of bringing civilization to the prairie.
But civilizing the Great Plains was never that simple. While many in Cottonwood distrust Leval’s motives, and mob violence threatens to derail the town’s dreams of greatness, Ogden finds himself dangerously obsessed with Leval’s stunningly beautiful wife. Meanwhile, plying its sinister trade unnoticed, an apparently ordinary local farm family quietly butchers traveling salesmen, weary travelers, and other unsuspecting wanderers.
In his own inimitable brand of narrative wizardry, Scott Phillips traces the metamorphosis of a frontier town that becomes a lightning rod for sin, corruption, and murder. He also brings to life actual crimes that befell Kansas in the 1870s and 1880s, carried out by a strange clan who popularly became known as The Bloody Benders. Brilliantly written, maliciously fun, and full of many surprises, Cottonwood is historical fiction at its finest.
From the Hardcover edition.
In 1872, Cottonwood, Kansas, is a one-horse speck on the map; a community of run-down farms, dusty roads, and two-bit crooks. Self-educated saloon owner and photographer Bill Ogden looks on his adopted town with an eye to making a profit or getting out. His brains and ambition bring him to the attention of one Marc Leval, a wealthy Chicago developer with big plans for the small town. The advent of the railroad and rumors of a cattle trail turn Cottonwood into a wild and wooly boomtown—and with Leval as a partner, Ogden dreams of bringing civilization to the prairie.
But civilizing the Great Plains was never that simple. While many in Cottonwood distrust Leval’s motives, and mob violence threatens to derail the town’s dreams of greatness, Ogden finds himself dangerously obsessed with Leval’s stunningly beautiful wife. Meanwhile, plying its sinister trade unnoticed, an apparently ordinary local farm family quietly butchers traveling salesmen, weary travelers, and other unsuspecting wanderers.
In his own inimitable brand of narrative wizardry, Scott Phillips traces the metamorphosis of a frontier town that becomes a lightning rod for sin, corruption, and murder. He also brings to life actual crimes that befell Kansas in the 1870s and 1880s, carried out by a strange clan who popularly became known as The Bloody Benders. Brilliantly written, maliciously fun, and full of many surprises, Cottonwood is historical fiction at its finest.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I didn't know anything about this book, or this writer. However, when I started it, within a couple of lines I had that lovely feeling of ' relax - this is going to be good book'. It is technically a Western (in scenes and time) but covers love, photography and a (real life) murderous family. The sense of time and place is well done and the characterisation is perfect. I finished the book kind of wanting to know more, about both the fictional and non-fictional characters, and that has to be a good thing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Extremely entertaining
22 Jun 2004
Format:Hardcover
I am not much of a reader of novels, nor was I particularly familiar with Scott Phillips. I only picked this novel up because I am originally from Labette County and I was interested to see how he would incorporate the actual historical events of the region into his story.
Having finished a book that was very very hard to put down, I find myself anxiously awaiting Phillips' next effort while simultaneously seeking out his previous two novels, which as I understand were set in 20th-century Wichita.
Phillips has a gifted eye for the absurd (which occasionally veers into the realm of the obscene, so be warned) accompanied by a talent for good dialogue. There were several times where I literally had to struggle not laugh out loud (the baby had just fallen asleep, after all), and I often found myself repeatedly reading passages to my wife so that she too could appreciate one ludicrous scene after another. It was great fun.
The novel can get dark at times, and is often downright gruesome, but for the most part it is ribald Western satire featuring a very interesting protagonist & narrator, Bill Ogden, who is wonderfully amoral --- for the most part, until the chips are down --- and irreverent. Circumstances of his own doing (and some beyond his control) come to pass which force Ogden to flee Cottonwood for almost 20 years as a much-maligned individual, until other events come to pass that induce him to return to the scene of the crime (so to speak) and confront his past actions, as well as dispense justice.
Most of Phillips' strengths lay in his skill with dialogue & character development. He does not spend much time describing the countryside as other authors might do. Some readers may consider this a liability & others may see it as an asset --- all I can say is that I would not have recognized Labette County from any other region in Kansas based on Phillips' descriptive powers. However, his characters are so entertaining as to make you not care particularly. What matters is the story in any case, and this is a good one indeed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
An enjoyable departure
17 Aug 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Scott Phillips' first two novels -- quirky, darkly funny crime stories set roughly in the present -- proved that he can write. In Cottonwood, Phillips departed from the conventions of crime fiction to write a quirky, darkly funny western. Crime works its way into the story, but the crime plot is secondary to Phillips' strong characterization.
Cottonwood takes place between 1872 and 1890. Essentially a mixture of a western and a thriller/mystery, Cottonwood tells the story of Bill Ogden, a photographer who comes to the frontier town of Cottonwood, Kansas to homestead a farm with his new Dutch wife and their son. Ogden doesn't take to farming, so he hires a hand to do most of the work while he establishes a saloon and photography studio in the town. The handyman catches the attention of Ogden's wife, a circumstance that would probably be more upsetting to Ogden but for his uncontrolled gift for charming women, married and unmarried alike. Eventually he becomes entangled in a dangerous affair, starts wondering about the mysterious disappearance of visitors to Cottonwood, gets involved in an old-fashioned shootout, and begins a journey that years later brings him back to a very different Cottonwood.
The story works because Ogden is such a strong character. As he struggles to build a life, struggles with romance, struggles with family, and struggles with moral decisions, the novel's fascination comes from watching him confront (or dodge) those challenges. Phillips tells a lively, imaginative story that is enhanced by his incorporation of a family of Kansas killers into the plot that actually existed. As he did in his first two novels, Phillips proved that he can write. This fine effort deserves a wider audience. I would give it 4 1/2 stars if that option were available.
Cottonwood takes place between 1872 and 1890. Essentially a mixture of a western and a thriller/mystery, Cottonwood tells the story of Bill Ogden, a photographer who comes to the frontier town of Cottonwood, Kansas to homestead a farm with his new Dutch wife and their son. Ogden doesn't take to farming, so he hires a hand to do most of the work while he establishes a saloon and photography studio in the town. The handyman catches the attention of Ogden's wife, a circumstance that would probably be more upsetting to Ogden but for his uncontrolled gift for charming women, married and unmarried alike. Eventually he becomes entangled in a dangerous affair, starts wondering about the mysterious disappearance of visitors to Cottonwood, gets involved in an old-fashioned shootout, and begins a journey that years later brings him back to a very different Cottonwood.
The story works because Ogden is such a strong character. As he struggles to build a life, struggles with romance, struggles with family, and struggles with moral decisions, the novel's fascination comes from watching him confront (or dodge) those challenges. Phillips tells a lively, imaginative story that is enhanced by his incorporation of a family of Kansas killers into the plot that actually existed. As he did in his first two novels, Phillips proved that he can write. This fine effort deserves a wider audience. I would give it 4 1/2 stars if that option were available.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Well researched, smartly written.
15 Jan 2006
Format:Paperback
Just as Charles Willeford did before him, Scott Phillips writes darkly comedic novels punctuated with shocking acts of violence. In Cottonwood, Phillips continues this tradition but does so in the context of a well researched story that unfolds in a day and age well beyond the memory of anyone now alive.
Cottonwood, a small fictitious Kansas farming community, sees itself boom when the prospect of a future as an important hub in the cattle trade materializes a few years after the end of the Civil War. Narration is provided by the book's main character Bill Ogden.
Ogden is a man of many talents. A very incomplete list of his skills would include farming, saloonkeeping and photography. He also is quite adept when it comes to sexually pleasuring a diverse demographic of women, one which ironically does not include his own wife. Ogden is a bit of a paradox. Sometimes his actions seem heroic but more often than not the word scoundrel fits him better than anything else.
What is the book about? A number of things. Greed, jealousy, infidelity, lust, murder, the pioneer spirit, the human capacity to do whatever it takes to survive. Throw in a tornado and a German speaking family of serial killers and you have a novel guaranteed to entertain the most jaded among us.
As he did in his second novel, The Walkaway, Phillips shows an amazing ability to transcend time frames. The second half of the book takes place a full 17 years after the first and only a few details about what transpired in the interim are spelled out. Surprisingly, this unconventional structure does not detract from Cottonwood's appeal one bit.
This novel is written with a healthy dose of dark humor and it unfolds in a way that gives the reader credit for having a modicum of intelligence. An enthusiastic 5 stars.
Cottonwood, a small fictitious Kansas farming community, sees itself boom when the prospect of a future as an important hub in the cattle trade materializes a few years after the end of the Civil War. Narration is provided by the book's main character Bill Ogden.
Ogden is a man of many talents. A very incomplete list of his skills would include farming, saloonkeeping and photography. He also is quite adept when it comes to sexually pleasuring a diverse demographic of women, one which ironically does not include his own wife. Ogden is a bit of a paradox. Sometimes his actions seem heroic but more often than not the word scoundrel fits him better than anything else.
What is the book about? A number of things. Greed, jealousy, infidelity, lust, murder, the pioneer spirit, the human capacity to do whatever it takes to survive. Throw in a tornado and a German speaking family of serial killers and you have a novel guaranteed to entertain the most jaded among us.
As he did in his second novel, The Walkaway, Phillips shows an amazing ability to transcend time frames. The second half of the book takes place a full 17 years after the first and only a few details about what transpired in the interim are spelled out. Surprisingly, this unconventional structure does not detract from Cottonwood's appeal one bit.
This novel is written with a healthy dose of dark humor and it unfolds in a way that gives the reader credit for having a modicum of intelligence. An enthusiastic 5 stars.
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