Shoot!

George Bowering

ISBN 10: 1554200415 / ISBN 13: 9781554200412

Published by New Star Books, 2008

About this Item

With an Introduction by Sherrill Grace. Cowboys and Indians, sometimes one and the same, occupy the rugged landscape of the late nineteenth-century British Columbia interior in George Bowering's Shoot! Meet the McLean Gang -- brothers Allan, Charlie, and Archie -- and their sidekick Alex Hare. Halfbreeds who grew up bitter outcasts, rejected by both white and Indian worlds, they roam the ranch country around Kamloops on a wild spree of cattle rustling, robbery, and mayhem. Until the day they go too far and kill two men in cold blood, one of whom is the local sheriff. Tracked and captured by a posse of over a hundred men, the McLean Gang -- the youngest a boy of fourteen -- were tried, convicted and hanged in short order. Originally published in 1994, Shoot! is a compassionate tale of race relations in the interior of British Columbia in the 1800s. Told with humour and sensitivity, George Bowering's imaginative re-creation of the world of the real-life McLean Gang soars into the realm of exhilarating speculation.

Seller Inventory # CIN1554200415VG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Shoot!
• Publisher: New Star Books
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1554200415
• ISBN 13: 9781554200412
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Fiction. Across Canada's wild west of the 1800s, brothers Allan, Charlie, Archie and sidekick Alex Hare were known as the McLean gang. They were also known as "breeds"—outcasts caught between the cultures—Alex Hare, a Metis, and Allan, Charlie and Archie, brothers of mixed Salish and Scottish blood. They roamed the high Chilcotin ranch country of British Columbia in the 1870s, cattle rustling, stealing and creating high-spirited mayhem. Until one frozen, crystalline morning in 1879, when they crossed the line and shot two men in cold blood, one of them, Johnny Ussher, the local sheriff. Tracked down by a posse of over 100 men, the McLean Gang were eventually trapped and besieged.

"With powerful imagery and crisp narration, Bowering delivers a stinging commentary on the desperation of racism in the harsh environment of the Canadian West."—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

George Bowering taught English at Simon Fraser University from 1972 until his retirement in 2001. Canada's first Poet Laureate, he is an Officer of both the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia. He was one of the founders of the poetry publication Tish, served as and has received two Governor General's awards: the first, for poetry, in 1969 for The Gangs of Kosmos and Rocky Mountain Foot and the second, in 1980, for Burning Water, reissued by New Star in 2007. Bowering is well-known for his love of baseball, about which he has also written. He is the author of nine novels, five books of short stories, and numerous volumes of poetry, including Autobiology (New Star Books, 1972). Bowering has said he writes about history because it is "so damned interesting." In September, he trekked to New York to watch the Yankees play their final series at Yankee Stadium.