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Summary: Gunman's Rhapsody: Spenser travels time to the Old West
Review: Gunman's Rhapsody, I was pleased to find, is up to Parker's usual page-turning standards.It's a fictional retelling of the Wyatt Earp saga "with the full weight of American history behind it," according to the publisher. If that be so, then Kevin Costner's recent film portrayal of Earp is closer to history than the earlier versions by Burt Lancaster and Henry Fonda. And Parker's insights both deepen and widen the Earp reputation. Parker's pen brings to life a host of storied characters, including Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson, friends of Wyatt and the other Earp brothers, as well as foes such as Clay Allison, John Ringo and Curley Bill Brocius. And Parker puts real flesh on the bones of the oft-told story of the feud between Sheriff Johnny Behan and Wyatt over showgirl Josie Marcus, which led to the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral. Josie was the love of Wyatt's life, but in hindsight one almost wonders if all the blood spilled over that romance was worth it. If for none other, it's almost reason enough just for the joy of reading Parker's retelling of this cornerstone saga of the wild and wooly old American West.
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Summary: Parker's Twist on a Western Legend
Review: Being the author of a recently published mystery novel in which Tombstone's shootout at the O.K. Corral plays a small part, I am very much aware of the complex relationship between western and mystery fiction. Several leading mystery writers--Loren Estleman, Elmore Leonard, and Bill Pronzini immediately come to mind--also write western fiction. In GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY, Robert B. Parker takes on the task of writing a western. He succeeds masterfully in his effort. With echoes from his Spenser series echoing throughout his story, Parker's Wyatt Earp is a man who adheres to his own strict personal code of what he considers honor. Once he arrives in Tombstone, he finds himself falling hard for a beautiful showgirl, Josie Marcus. She's the lover of Johnny Behan, an Earp political rival, and this rivalry eventually leads to the legendary shootout. All the usual suspects--Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, and Johnny Ringo--play their parts in the story. Along the way, Parker presents his interpretation of American society at that point in history. He presents a largely lawless Tombstone split along Union/Confederate and townfolk/rancher grounds. He shows people attempting to live their lives as they best can with the values they hold. I have always enjoyed the Spenser series, and I enjoyed GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY. I continue to be amazed by Robert B. Parker's writings. He is a master working at the top of his form.
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Summary: A Familiar Tale Retold with Manly Panache
Review: I like western movies but have never been big on the novels. Can't say why. Who knows why we like some things but not others? Nevertheless, I've recently become interested in reading western fiction, probably because of the work of Larry McMurtry. (I was bowled over by his Lonesome Dove and liked some of the others in that series, which followed it.) And so I picked up Parker's Gunman's Rhapsody as soon as I saw it.
It was not only a western, it was about one of the quintessential western legends: the now mythic feud between the Earp brothers and the Clantons and McClaury's in 1880's Tombstone, Arizona. And so this was more than just a "shoot 'em up", to me, it was real history, based on actual historical records and the recollections of many of those who were there. (Josie Marcus, Wyatt's paramour, actually wrote . . . or dicated . . . her own record of these events toward the end of her life.) Parker's writing in this novel is tight and sharp. The characters are limned in subtle but clean strokes, through taut description and even tauter dialogue. The Wyatt Earp of this novel is not the goody-two-shoes lawman he's sometimes portrayed as. Indeed, he's not above gunning a man down in cold blood though, as he tells his high-strung buddy, Doc Holliday, after one such event, the difference between Holliday and him is that Doc'll shoot a man over a spilled drink whereas Wyatt, even when stepping outside the law, demands good cause. So, if he's a killer, at least he doesn't kill lightly is what he seems to be saying. And that's enough for the Wyatt of this tale, a man of supreme self assurance, unmoved by the need for approval, appreciation or the good opinion of others that seems to drive lesser men. Parker's tale pretty much captures the story as it has come down to us. If you've seen the movie Tombstone, you already know most of it, although here the "evil axis" of the cowboys (Curly Bill, Johnny Ringo, Ike Clanton, etc.) is not blown up into some kind of metaphysical thing, as the movie has it. And the basic series of events that unfold reflect less a mythic confrontation between good and evil than they do Wyatt's decision to pursue Josie Marcus and the subsequent anger and humiliation this causes Johnny Behan, Josie's discarded lover. In this novel, Behan is the real force behind the events, a weasel of a man who stirs up trouble from the shadows, while the cowboys seem to have been clumsily caught in the middle. Other differences with the film, Tombstone, include the handling of Doc Holliday who is rather thinly drawn here and does not rise to the dimensions Val Kilmer gave him in the movie. The end's a bit different too, more off-handed than the overblown dramatic scenes of Tombstone, the movie, and, because of this, somewhat less affecting. In fact I wished there had been more dimension to the rather familiar cast of characters, even if they were not the Tombstone personalities so vividly brought to life on the big screen. But on balance I liked this tale and thought it offered a very-down-to-earth look at the events leading up to, and following, the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. On the other hand, I didn't much like the interpsersed news items which were mainly distracting, not informative . . . and I missed the mythic interplay between Wyatt and Doc, whether THAT ever really was the case or not. (Surely, given the different life trajectories of these two men, and their very different temperaments, there must have been something that cemented their friendship. But we don't get a real sense of that here.) Bat Masterson's appearance, too, seemed gratuitous and rather too fleeting. But, in sum, this was a nicely told tale. I admired Parker's clean prose and his ability to say so much with dialogue. A good western, though not up to a great one like Lonesome Dove. SWM
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Summary: Light version of the old west
Review: Robert Parker writes a novel telling the tale surrounding the exploits of the Earp brothers in Tombstone, Arizona in the 1880's. He does so in a very simply written style reminiscent of the simple pace of life in the old west. Parker is not one for intensive and in depth character profiles and the main characters are portrayed in a shallow and wooden manner. The story is seen through the eyes of Wyatt Earp. We are introduced to the Earp brothers, Virgil, Morgan, James,Warren, and their significant others as well as well known old westerners like Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. Unfortunately, we never get to know them. The story chronicles the famous feud between the Earps and the "cowboys" (Clanton brothers, McLaury brothers etc.), that led to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Unbelievably, the gunfight is covered in one page of text. Parker does very little to add to what we already know after having seen movies like Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. At least it was a book that can be read relatively rapidly.
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Summary: A Good, Quick Read
Review: I decided to read this book after having glanced at a couple of pages. I don't know Parker's other works and this is the first Western genre novel that I've read. In short, it's a good read and Parker does a good job of portraying the characters in a realistic manner rather than the overblown "larger than life" characters in other books. The simple style matches the much simpler time where the story is set. And Parker does a good job of matching the story to the actual history, at least as much as we really know about it. I disagree with SWH (above) about not pursuing the Doc/Wyatt relationship. He (Wyatt) is pretty clear that the only thing that joins them is loyalty based on common experience. For this novel, that suffices. About the only question I was left asking was why Bat Masterson appeared in it at all. His re-appearance mid-story doesn't add anything and is about the only uneven thing in the book. Overall...a good day at the beach/park/on the plane read.
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Summary: Spenser at the (just OK) Corral
Review: Critics loved it & all in all it's an ok read. Basically it's Spenser in the old West. Parker focuses on too few aspects of Wyatt Earp's life w/too much existential angst.All in all it's a good entertaing read. It's a sentimental favorite because it drove me to read the true western writers ( Braun, Keltner, Johnston, & L'Amour).
Not (IMOO) worth full price.
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Summary: Spencer Goes West
Review: I love Parker's writing, for the crispness of it as well as the simply drawn yet powerful characters he builds. This is why the Spencer books are so great. Here Parker tries his hand at another genre - the western historic fiction. And at first he really pulls it off. But over time, Wyatt Erp morphs more into an old west version of Spencer. He sounds and acts like our favorite detective. And this is the problem with the book. After a while I expected more of a divergence from his other writings, yet found it less and less. This is not to say that the book is bad. It's actually quite good, and would be refreshing if it were by another author. If you are not a huge Parker fan, then you are in for a real treat. The prose is concise, characters tight lipped and strong, and when there is action, it is crisp and fast paced. But it would have been nice if there was more of it. Parker's books are more about the characters than extensive plot. But for this genre, and the story he is writing, the actual action is small and far between. A very good read, I just was expecting a bit more.
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Summary: A great portrayal of Wyatt Earp...
Review: Western literature has been sorely neglected lately. But Parker does a great job of bringing the old west to life in this re-telling of the saga of Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral. This is a refreshing portrayal of an individual devoted to his principles and backed up by his brothers and their guns. A real masterpiece of western fiction. I think this would make a great movie, despite the fact that its been done in other versions many times. Worth the money!
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Summary: Disappointing Parker
Review: As an afficionado of Parker/Spencer books this is a disappointing effort.Halfway through, I was glutted with bullets,Winchesters,Colts, the way Wyatt holds his coffee cup,fried bread and bacon, etc.Parker has an obsession with Jewish women. Josie is Susan minus 100 or so years. "Intelligent,
upper class, educated, eating sparingly." I missed Pearl, the wonder dog.Please, Robert, stick to what you do so well.
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Summary: Parker moves to the OK Corral
Review: Modern detective novelists seem to have a fascination with the westerns. Elmore Leonard did westerns for a while, Bill Pronzini too, and Loren D. Estleman even did an O.K. Corral novel some years ago, and given that this book is on the same subject, apparently there's some fascination. Parker's take on things isn't that different from Estleman's, for instance, but the way it plays out does come out in a unique fashion. In Parker's take on things, the emphasis is on family. This is a well-known theme of the Earps: they supposedly always stuck together, no matter what, and were clear that they were going to, no matter what. They even backed one another against their "wives", when the women got upset with the one or the other of them. In this retelling of the story, the whole plot revolves around the brothers Earp (James, Virgil, Wyatt, Morgan, and Warren, older to younger) and how they react to various things. One thing they react to is Wyatt falling in love with the woman currently seeing the sheriff, Johnnie Behan. The brothers basically fall in line behind him, though their women (especially Virgil's Allie) are very unhappy with Wyatt dumping his current "wife" Matty. Wyatt's action triggers Behan's anger, and he begins to scheme. Rather than challenging Wyatt directly he sets various "cowboys" on the warpath, with the Earps as their targets. Things slide along quickly, developing towards the O.K. Corral, and further shootouts and killings after. The plot moves right along and you're soon at the end of the book. If there's a flaw in the book, it's that there is little character development other than the Earp brothers, Josie (Wyatt's new girlfriend) and perhaps Behan. Curly Bill Brocious and Johnny Ringo, Doc Holliday, and the secondary supporting gunmen who followed Earp after the O.K. Corral get almost no space. Instead Earp is the main character, striding through this novel paying no attention to those things that aren't important, and focusing on those that are. It's an interesting character, well-drawn and worth reading about.
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