Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson (Midland Book)

Rating:
Summary: Sorting Fact From Fiction
Review: I have read this book a number of times. Having grown up in Wyoming, I am familiar with much of the country and many of the people described in the book. Opening this book is like going home all over again. This is not an "historical novel" but a retelling of actual events that reads better than any fictional adventure story. The best part about the book is that it turns the giants of the American West into real people, with real foibles and follies. The mountain men weren't super heroes, but regular people living a hard and dangerous life. It's an excellent snapshot of the realities of frontier life, told by the people who lived there. Thank God Raymond Thorp interviewed these men before all knowledge of their lives passed into obscurity.

Rating:
Summary: TRUE OR FALSE YOU SAY?
Review: I say true as it gets. In fact, I believe I could have been the "liver-eater". I'm 6'2, strong as a bar, big bushy red beard with bright auburn hair. Yes sir, I do believe I once walked the lands as Liver-Eating Johnson.

Whew, just slipped away from reality for a moment. While I wish I'd experienced the tales told in this fascinating book and while I do appear as Mr. Johnston is described, I fear I have no recollection of those times. Nevertheless, Mr. Thorps's words will put you in a trance and force you to read his story from cover to cover lickety-split. Who cares if every facet of the story is true or not. I suspect some is exagerated but then if you survived those years in the way a mountain man did, you have every right to exagerate. God bless the liver-eater and all his fans.

Rating:
Summary: When men were men...
Review: I suppose that most people find their way to this book through the movie,Jeremiah Johnson. It is a great film and one of Redford's best.
The book is a fascinating look at the real life model for Jeremiah Johnson, John Johnston. His story is essentially compiled from the oral tradition of the old west augmented by interviews with people who knew Johnston (or alleged to know him.)
Some of the stories are fantastic and should be taken with a grain of salt but it does suggest that only a very unusual(and dangerous)individual succeeded as a mountain man. The romantic notion of the old west is replaced by an environment that is hostile and unforgiving. The map provided is hand-drawn but gives a sense of what must have been involved for settlers attempting to cross that portion of the country.
I enjoyed this small volume very much and found it ironic that Johnston wound up being buried in a cemetery in Los Angeles (what an insult!)

Rating:
Summary: Crow Killer : The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson
Review: I was incredibly gripped by the story of this extraordinary man that was so well respected throughout the west. I instantly felt compelled to visit the places described in the book including the final resting place of John Johnson/Johnston... I am also curious to know what became of his signature possesions the "matching rosewood handled Colt and Bowie". I have read the reviews on this book, some disputing the claims made by Raymond W. Thorp. I would like to know "the real story" if there is such and determine for myself from the sources whether I believe it to be true or not. Until such information is published I will believe Raymond W. Thorp's version to be true. Either way, this man is sure to have been quite a figure in the great American frontier of which I so painfully wish to have seen! Happy Reading!

Rating:
Summary: Great real-life account of a true american frontiersman
Review: If you liked Robert Redford in the movie "Jeremiah Johnson", you'll love the real life accounts of the man on which the movie was based.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book and easy read
Review: Just finished reading CROW KILLER: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson. I recommend this book for a number of reasons. #1. its a very quick & easy read, around 200 pages. #2. Great story with lots of documentation. #3. the real story of "Jeremiah Johnson" and the real truth about mountain men. They were not loners, they were very seldom off by themselves and these men were the best of friends for the most part. I've been into the BP scene for about 5 years and still stand in awe of these men who braved the West, the Indians, and the pure hardships of the weather not because they had a love affair with BP or the genre but because that was who they were ... Mountain Men. I truly onder how long I or we would last under the onditions which they encountered everyday. I venture a guess, at least for me, not very long. These men were a very special group that was in reality very small in number.

Rating:
Summary: Correction
Review: Just wanted to make a correction as to where where Jeremiah Johnson is buried. It's my understanding it's in Cody, Wyoming. Thanks.

Rating:
Summary: Not larger than life, but as large as life was at the time
Review: Possibly the best fur era book I have read. John Johnson is what the free trapper really was. If you are ready to get away from the "fantasy land" of the historical novelist, and immerse yourself in what was, this book by Thorp will bring you there. Open the book, keep your powder dry and watch your topknot. If I don't see you at the grave on Sepulveda (Big Anton's name) then I'll see you on the trail.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read.
Review: Regardless of whether it is truth, legend, fiction, or myth, Crow Killer is a good read for those interested in the old west and the life of the mountain men. Much better and bigger than the movie (just as Johnson was much bigger than Redford) with vivid action and great descriptions of the times. Some people seem concerned with the lack of documentation, however word of mouth and story telling were the documentation methods of the times for red and white men alike. A good read. If you liked the movie you'll enjoy the book.

Rating:
Summary: The Crow Killer Myth
Review: The author has put together an interesting fictional account
of the life of "Liver Eating Johnson." While the attempt is made
to portray Johnson as a mammoth trapper with uncanny fighting
prowress, the varied accounts of Johnson's trials and tribulationslack any credible evidence to back up the stories.
As another reviewer put it--nearly all of the feats attributable to Johnson are taken from 2nd or 3rd and even fourth-hand accounts. The Crow Killer saga is simply a myth.
When the dialect approach is taken by the author to convey
the backwoods talk of the mountain men it becomes almost laughable.
But all in all the story has the redeeming quality of at least entertaining the reader with the superman-comic-book
antics of a trapper with Karate skills. Even the sole purported
photo of the liver eater (notwithstanding his age at the time
it was taken) does not show the body frame of a giant of a man
who could knock off two indians simply by banging their heads
together.
The Liver Eater gets a One (1) for entertainment.