King of the Cowboys

Rating:
Summary: MORE GAS THAN A BULL THAT'S BEEN EATING BAD HAY!
Review: I used to be a Ty Murray fan and then I read this book. Where is the the tough but humble image that cowboys are famous for? And what is all of this about chasing down wild elk on snowmobiles? Perhaps he was coming off a three-kegger-Friday and didn't know what the heck he was doing! Or, more than likely, we can attribute his embarrassing behavior to one too many hits in the head by a well-meaning bucking bull.

Give me Dan Mortensen, the great Saddle Bronc champion. Give me Larry Mahan, the man who had all the records (and appropriate behavior) before Murray came along. And, given the track that he is on, Trevor Brazile, probably the greatest roper in rodeo history, is sure to break Murray's records in the All Around category. It will be good to forget Murray.

THE HORSEMAN

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and a Well Deserved Ego
Review: I'm amazed at how well Ty packed his life into such a neat little package. I feel as though I grew up next to him and followed his progress as close as a proud parent. Any rider with so many marked achievements is going to have positive and motivating things to say and though this may draw fire from some, I feel it's well deserved. If you are good enough to rack up the wins as consistently and methodically as Ty did, then you are good enough to be admired and ignore the sour grapes. Once again, I feel as though I were standing right beside Ty from the time he was a toddler to the day he retired from rodeo and I was able to cheer and cry at the appropriate times. I recommend this book to anyone interested in either Rodeo or Good Sportsmanship. Ty shows how hard work, taking responsibility, passion and determination pay off in the end and provides a good role model to all.

Rating:
Summary: King of the Creeps
Review: The whole book in general was really captivating. It holds the attention really well and makes you want to keep reading. I have always considered myself a rodeo fan, yet I found myself learning a lot about the finer points of the sport that you could only get straight from the cowboy himself. I also learned a lot about a different way of life.
My only complaint would have to be that in the latter part of the book, it starts skipping around a lot, and doesn't go quite so much in chronological order. However, I guess when you have a life as full as Mr. Murray has had, I guess that would be a particurally difficult thing to do.
Overall, I give the book an astounding four stars.

Rating:
Summary: King of the Creeps
Review: Ty Murray's undeniable talent starts and ends with staying atop bucking animals. In his self-patronizing autobiography, this spoiled rodeo superstar proves to be a redneck in the worst sense of the word, not a "cowboy" as he claims. His description of the time he chased down the elk on a snowmobile and then rode the exhausted animal in the deep Colorado snow would have been a mature mea culpa had he not used the incident instead to lash out at the wildlife officer and the newspaper reporter for doing their jobs and exposing him as a creep in a cowboy hat.

Rating:
Summary: Braggadocio
Review: When I was young and foolish and growing up in Wyoming I was on the rodeo circuit for a short while. The cowboys I met were tough but humble. Ty Murray is certainly not humble. If braggadocio is your thing, this is your book. If tough is chasing down female elk on snowmobiles and then riding them, Murray is one tough dude. Depsite what he claims, I don't think that is "the cowboy way." It was at this point in the book that I threw it in the garbage. Rather than buy this book, I suggest you send the money to some orgaization that protects wildlife from people like Ty Murray.