Product Description
From goodreads.com
Chris Sherman rated it 4 of 5 stars ·
This book was great. Its less about being a cowboy specifically than it is about a broader unique way of life--leaving home far behind you and striking out on a journey with a group of people. Loggers, whalers, Navy sailors, oil derrick operators. There are few occupations that isolate you to face adversity with a group of relative strangers bound only by a common skill and a will to get paid. I've experienced it and this combined with appealing characters, an ever present sense of adventure...moreThis book was great. Its less about being a cowboy specifically than it is about a broader unique way of life--leaving home far behind you and striking out on a journey with a group of people. Loggers, whalers, Navy sailors, oil derrick operators. There are few occupations that isolate you to face adversity with a group of relative strangers bound only by a common skill and a will to get paid. I've experienced it and this combined with appealing characters, an ever present sense of adventure, an elegant oscillation between stress and relief made Adams's book highly enjoyable for this reader.
The other incredibly interesting aspect to this book is that it was written in real time (that is, by a cowboy in 1903 about a cowboy in 1903) so the dialogue is the real mccoy and it is fascinating from slang to grammar. Full of gems and one-line life lessons.
Jeff
Jan 20, 2011
Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars
"The Log of a Cowboy", Andy Adams. 1905. The American Western is a genre that has been played out, diluted and distorted by hundreds of inexpensive films and cheap dime novels. It is a unique experience to read a basically unmolested, authentic, first hand account of an American cowboy of the 1880's. Andy Adams's book is based on his experiences working cattle for two season from north of the Rio Grande up though eastern Montana. Adams affectionately names his black gelding "Nigg
Chris Sherman rated it 4 of 5 stars ·
This book was great. Its less about being a cowboy specifically than it is about a broader unique way of life--leaving home far behind you and striking out on a journey with a group of people. Loggers, whalers, Navy sailors, oil derrick operators. There are few occupations that isolate you to face adversity with a group of relative strangers bound only by a common skill and a will to get paid. I've experienced it and this combined with appealing characters, an ever present sense of adventure...moreThis book was great. Its less about being a cowboy specifically than it is about a broader unique way of life--leaving home far behind you and striking out on a journey with a group of people. Loggers, whalers, Navy sailors, oil derrick operators. There are few occupations that isolate you to face adversity with a group of relative strangers bound only by a common skill and a will to get paid. I've experienced it and this combined with appealing characters, an ever present sense of adventure, an elegant oscillation between stress and relief made Adams's book highly enjoyable for this reader.
The other incredibly interesting aspect to this book is that it was written in real time (that is, by a cowboy in 1903 about a cowboy in 1903) so the dialogue is the real mccoy and it is fascinating from slang to grammar. Full of gems and one-line life lessons.
Jeff
Jan 20, 2011
Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars
"The Log of a Cowboy", Andy Adams. 1905. The American Western is a genre that has been played out, diluted and distorted by hundreds of inexpensive films and cheap dime novels. It is a unique experience to read a basically unmolested, authentic, first hand account of an American cowboy of the 1880's. Andy Adams's book is based on his experiences working cattle for two season from north of the Rio Grande up though eastern Montana. Adams affectionately names his black gelding "Nigg
