Rating: 
Summary: Correction of facts.
Review: Mr. Kesey has made a grievous error in his book. I am the great-neice of John Spain, the winner of the 1911 Pendleton Round-up title discussed therein. Mr. Spain was born and raised in Eastern Oregon - at the time in Telocaset, Or. - and was to my knowledge never in Tennessee. His name was not Jonathan E. Lee Spain and I do not know if in truth there was such a man.John Abraham Spain, 1881-1927 son of Archie Cornelius and Nettie May Spray Spain, won the All-Around Cowboy title 3 years in a row to win the coveted Silver Saddle and went on to compete in New York's Madison Square Garden. He died at an early age of stomach ulcer complications. Mr. Kesey should more thoroughly research his facts.
Rating:
Summary: Correction of facts.
Review: Mr. Kesey has made a grievous error in his book. I am the great-neice of John Spain, the winner of the 1911 Pendleton Round-up title discussed therein. Mr. Spain was born and raised in Eastern Oregon - at the time in Telocaset, Or. - and was to my knowledge never in Tennessee. His name was not Jonathan E. Lee Spain and I do not know if in truth there was such a man. John Abraham Spain, 1881-1927 son of Archie Cornelius and Nettie May Spray Spain, won the All-Around Cowboy title 3 years in a row to win the coveted Silver Saddle and went on to compete in New York's Madison Square Garden. He died at an early age of stomach ulcer complications. Mr. Kesey should more thoroughly research his facts.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: This book tells the story of the first Pendleton Round-Up. The Round-Up was organized to settle once and for all who was the greatest cowboy in the world. Contestants arrived from across the continent to vie for the prize, a magnificent saddle. Three of the men who came to try their luck were Jackson Sundown, a Nez Perce Indian, George Fletcher, an African American from Pendleton, and Jonathan E. Lee Spain, a youngster from Tennessee. When the final scores were tallied, these three came out in a draw, so special events had to be added to the contest to determine the winner.
The book tells the story from Spain's point-of-view. As one of the youngest contestants, his experience with rodeo competitions was limited. The authors take us behind the scenes to see how the rodeo favorites took him under their wing, teaching him more than just how to compete in the ring. The story is quite entertaining, with a full cast of characters, from Buffalo Bill to a young girl named Meyerhoff, who could ride like the wind. The only odd part of the story is the beginning, which is set in modern times, with Spain as an old man- -it's a bit hard to understand where the plot is going at first, but once it finally gets going, there's no stopping it.
Rating: 
Summary: Caution History is Not Always As It Seems
Review: This Ken Kesey story is a mix of truth and fiction. Located in Pendleton, OR in 1911 at the original rodeo or Round Up as it is still called. The main characters are Jonathan Lee Spain, an Indian named Jackson Sundown and a black man named George Fletcher. It is a tightly focused story of a few days in their lives at Pendleton along with a sub plot involving Buffalo Bill Cody and a very strange wrestler named Frank Gotch. The book contains photos from those early days so you know that some of these fellows really lived including on of Spain that continued to rodeo even after he lost a hand in a roping accident. This one is great fun and uses the mortar of fabrication to hold the rocks of truth in place. It's a quick and easy read and does offer a glimpse of yesterday but be warned it has neither the depth or polish of Kesey's earlier works such as "Sometimes a Great Notion" or "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
Rating:
Summary: Caution History is Not Always As It Seems
Review: This Ken Kesey story is a mix of truth and fiction. Located in Pendleton, OR in 1911 at the original rodeo or Round Up as it is still called. The main characters are Jonathan Lee Spain, an Indian named Jackson Sundown and a black man named George Fletcher. It is a tightly focused story of a few days in their lives at Pendleton along with a sub plot involving Buffalo Bill Cody and a very strange wrestler named Frank Gotch. The book contains photos from those early days so you know that some of these fellows really lived including on of Spain that continued to rodeo even after he lost a hand in a roping accident. This one is great fun and uses the mortar of fabrication to hold the rocks of truth in place. It's a quick and easy read and does offer a glimpse of yesterday but be warned it has neither the depth or polish of Kesey's earlier works such as "Sometimes a Great Notion" or "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
Rating:
Summary: Not Kesey's best but still worth a read
Review: this novel recycles fact into fiction to create a tale about the original Pendleton Roundup. There's a heap of synthesis here, from oral and written histories, old photographs, interviews, newspaper articles and conversations. Kesey connects them and supplies imaginary material to create a farce with a gonzo tilt, as if he were on acid and explaining to Hunter Thompson. Kesey uses local color well and has an ear for period phrases, even when slapping them on with a palate knife, but that's the fun of it--watching Kesey stretch his brain around facts. The book is really about the author and how he chooses to indulge himself, not about what happened in Pendleton or what the reader should think about what went on there. In fact, the way Kesey jumps from one time frame to another shows how little he's concerned with keeping things straight for the reader. This book is bent. You can enjoy its distortions or look away, but you can't deny the brilliance or uniqueness of its colors. One burr under my saddle is that his cowboys aren't as "strong, silent and truthful" as I'd expect. Pendleton must have been far more polite and stuffy than Kesey lets on. But bizarre distortion reflects his intention of zonking out on history until it assumes a form more pleasing to him. In taking this trail, he proves that the humblest writer scribblng a dime novel from dubious fact is more of an author than all the librarians at the Library of Congress. The point, after all, is the mind in the act of making the mind. If connections seem bizarre, well, that's just Kesey taking on reality, whether the time is now or a century ago.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Dime Novel or a History,
Review: this novel recycles fact into fiction to create a tale about the original Pendleton Roundup. There's a heap of synthesis here, from oral and written histories, old photographs, interviews, newspaper articles and conversations. Kesey connects them and supplies imaginary material to create a farce with a gonzo tilt, as if he were on acid and explaining to Hunter Thompson. Kesey uses local color well and has an ear for period phrases, even when slapping them on with a palate knife, but that's the fun of it--watching Kesey stretch his brain around facts. The book is really about the author and how he chooses to indulge himself, not about what happened in Pendleton or what the reader should think about what went on there. In fact, the way Kesey jumps from one time frame to another shows how little he's concerned with keeping things straight for the reader. This book is bent. You can enjoy its distortions or look away, but you can't deny the brilliance or uniqueness of its colors. One burr under my saddle is that his cowboys aren't as "strong, silent and truthful" as I'd expect. Pendleton must have been far more polite and stuffy than Kesey lets on. But bizarre distortion reflects his intention of zonking out on history until it assumes a form more pleasing to him. In taking this trail, he proves that the humblest writer scribblng a dime novel from dubious fact is more of an author than all the librarians at the Library of Congress. The point, after all, is the mind in the act of making the mind. If connections seem bizarre, well, that's just Kesey taking on reality, whether the time is now or a century ago.
Rating:
Summary: More fun than an Eastwood western
Review: This short novel takes the reader to old west and shows them why it became known as the "wild west." Kesey and Babbs drop any symbolism or social commentary and spin a fast moving, fun tale of three true cowboys battling it our for the World Rodeo Championship.
There is no time wasted with long character introductions nor any dragged out descriptions of the scenery-- just lots of action.
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