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Rating: 
Summary: Just read it
Review: "Inventing Wyatt Earp" is a major contribution to the literature of Old West. It is not, nor is it intended to be a biography based on groundbreaking research, and those who come to the book with that expectation are certain to be disappointed. It is, rather, a book of first-rate analysis and assessment whose main virtue is the clear-eyed, even-handed, critically probing intelligence the author applies to the appraisal of his material. Mr. Barra is possessed of a formidable analytical mind, and the questions he poses and answers he assays, however provocative at times, are reasonably well-considered. Wyatt Earp has over the years become a figure of debate and controversy. He is likely to remain one into the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, much of that debate has more recently betrayed a tone of strident and petty hysteria--much heat, little light--a tone that Mr. Barra's book serves effectively to counter. One needn't agree with the author's every assertion to appreciate the value of his book. "Inventing Wyatt Earp" may not be the Last Word on its subject, but I suspect that Allen Barra would not want, nor did he intend it to be. Forgive the many typos. Attend to the meat of the book. There is much there to be thoughtfully digested.
Rating:
Summary: Just read it
Review: almost everything the author tells us about Wyatt Earp is wrong. The devil is in the details and he just got over 1000 details WRONG. hOW? No credible proofreading. From Kansas to Tombstone, we are led astray by this journalistic whip- lash. From "streetlight at the O. K. Corral" to "the misadventures of Wyatt Earp in Kansas" this book is a brilliant diapppointment. Obviously the author had his mind made up and the facts didn't matter to him. This is a serious problem whenjournalist-on-the-run become GEE WHIZ Historians. Only one recent journalist got it right and that was Casey Tefertiller. Even the Testimony of the famous shootout at the O. K. Corral has just recently been published so much prior writings suffer from inadequate information. Put this book at the top of your list if you want "movie reviews" about Wyatt Earp. Historically it is worthless. But entertaining like the movies. Perhaps it should have been published as a novel, or creative non-fiction. Well written, just devoid of the facts. It is hard to believe the other reviewers are also so ob
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting But Unsatisfying
Review: Barra has done an admirable job of trying to piece together the life and times of Wyatt Earp. The book is well-enough written and I can say that reading the book was a learning experience. In the end, however, the book is unsatisfying because I do not know what or how much I learned. The most significant problem in this regard is less Barra and more the available source materials. Barra is working primarily with statements of participants and witnesses, sometimes made 50 years after the fact, articles from partisan newspapers (According the Barra, they were all grinding axes.),and second hand sources who had their own agendas. There is very little information that can be considered truly objective. As a result, Barra is left trying to sift through this information using his own sense of logic and history. For the most part, I do not question his reasoning. The problem with his method is that, by its very nature, it ignores the fact that people do not alway act logically or in-character. This fact is one of the things that makes history (and people) interesting. In any event, Barra's version of Wyatt Earp and the people with whom he associated is interesting and persuasive, given its limitations. I just don't know how much closer we are to understanding, for instance, what exactly happened at the O.K. Corral.
I have one other criticism, which may or may not be trivial. The hardcover edition of the book that I read had many typos. Without looking for them, I must have noticed a dozen. I don't know whether these typos are any reflection on the substantive editing for the book. At the least, however, they were a distraction and give the impression of sloppiness. (Having made this comment, I expect that this review has at least one typo. If there are any, all I can say is that I'm not being paid to write this.)
Rating:
Summary: Okay for the Legend, too short for the life
Review: I was perhaps a little too harsh in my initial review.
This book does have substantial merit as a review of
the many movies about Wyatt Earp. It certainly reveals
the Legend if not the complete Life of its subject.
The definitive book about Wyatt Earp in Tombstone has
not yet been written. The Kansas period has recently been
adequately covered by Lee Silva's Wyatt Earp, The Cowtown
Years. Kudos to Casey Tefertiller and Allen Barra for some
new insights. There is a new generation of writers who offer
promise to finally nail this subject down. In the meanwhile
we will have to make do with what we have - the movies and
fantasies nothwithstanding. The truth is out there somewhere.
It will not be found in short magazine articles of opinions.
This book comes closer than most.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent journalism -- poor copyediting
Review: I would bet this book's copyeditor goofed and submitted an early draft for publishing instead of the final version. The dozens of grammar mistakes, punctuation errors, and omitted words make for choppy reading. Even so, Barra's extensive coverage and analysis of previous Earpiana provides an excellent insight into the twists and turns the legend has taken over the years. Granted, Barra favors Wyatt's side in most controversies, but this bias seems to provide a fair counterbalance to the torrent of anti-Earp revisionist journalism (some of which can be seen in other reader reviews herein).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent journalism -- poor copyediting
Review: I would bet this book's copyeditor goofed and submitted an early draft for publishing instead of the final version. The dozens of grammar mistakes, punctuation errors, and omitted words make for choppy reading. Even so, Barra's extensive coverage and analysis of previous Earpiana provides an excellent insight into the twists and turns the legend has taken over the years. Granted, Barra favors Wyatt's side in most controversies, but this bias seems to provide a fair counterbalance to the torrent of anti-Earp revisionist journalism (some of which can be seen in other reader reviews herein).
Rating: 
Summary: THE LEGEND LIVES ON - WITH NO END IN SIGHT
Review: Mr. Barra has achieved his objective in this, another look, at the life and "legends" of Wyatt Earp. His work appears to be fairly "middle of the road" although one can sense a little bias as to its being a pro-Earp work and not anti as seems to have become the "politically correct" way to be. Has always amazed how in hindsight, our history and the people in it, have always ended up being one-dimensional. As the years have passed, and we have become more cynical in our views of that past, there are always scores of "historians" and others willing and eager to give us the true picture. Well, in many ways, there may not ever be a true picture. The information and materials that are needed to shine new light on the subject, may no longer exist. Each of us has to use our own instinct as to how we weigh and analyze these findings. Whether you agree with some, most, or all of Barra's efforts, it is a very entertaining look at one of the "old West's" most recognized names. Mr. Barra's writing is one that will keep you glued to your spot. You won't put this one down until you reach the finish. No, not a finish, for as my review title implies "the legend and the man live on".
Rating: 
Summary: Holliday reloads shotgun?
Review: The book starts out to examine the Wyatt Earp legend. Unfortunately the author does not know his history and has over 1000 historical errors (not just typos). Some of them are laughable, as Doc Holliday reloading the shotgun at the O. K. Corral Shootout. He would have been a dead duck! Dates, names, places are all hopelessly mixed up. He even put a "streetlight" at the O.K. Corral. Better still to read the source documents which are now all available and will shortly be listed in books-in-print. The only redeeming feature of the book is the extensive movie review section. Even the geography is skewed. Did the author ever make it to Tombstone? He has an inter- section of Allen and Fremonts Sts, TWO PARALLEL STREETS! The publisher apparently doesn't have a proofreader, at least one that knows western history. Lots of double negatives. Earp fans deserve better.
Rating:
Summary: Barra puts Earp in context
Review: The true value of Barra's "Inventing Wyatt Earp" goes way beyond merely telling Earp's fascinating story. By sifting through the various iterations of Earp legend and propaganda, Barra provides a supreme service to both the casual reader and the serious Western buff: he seperates fact from fiction, leaving us with a much clearer portrait of who this brave, complicated and often self-aggrandizing man really was.
Rating:
Summary: Barra brings out an excellent bio of Wyatt Earp
Review: With Casey Tefertillier's book ( Wyatt Earp, the life behind the legend) and this book, Wyatt Earp is clearly explained and researched in an excellent way. Mr Barra does an excellent job in this book,particularly in two areas: First, Mr Barra gives a very good insight into Judge Spicers decision in the Tombstone trial and number two; Mr Barra gaves a very good explanation on why Wyatt Earp still an important figure in US History. Excellent book for someone asking the question,Why is the shoot out at tombstone something to remember? Kudos for Mr Barra
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