The Log of a Cowboy - Hardcover

Adams, Andy

3.99

934 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1567311741 ISBN 13: 9781567311747

Publisher: Mjf Books, 1997

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Straightforwardly told, rich in detail, and laced with appealing campfire humor, Andy Adams's realistic The Log of a Cowboy is a classic portrayal of the western cattle country. Drawing on his own experiences as a cowboy working in cattle and horse drives, Adams presents a vivid portrait of the challenges of trail life on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana�€”the daily drudgery of cattle trailing, as well as the dramatic stampedes and other treacherous disruptions. Populated by a wide variety of well-drawn, lively characters, The Log of a Cowboy remains the landmark novel of the American West a century after its first appearance.

First time in Penguin Classics

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About the Author:

Andy Adams (1859–1935) was an American writer of western fiction. Andy Adams was born in Indiana. His parents, Andrew and Elizabeth (Elliott) Adams, were pioneers. As a boy he helped with the cattle and horses on the family farm. In the early 1880s he went to Texas, where he stayed for 10 years, spending much of that time driving cattle on the western trail. In 1890 he left the trail to try his hand at business, but the venture failed, so he turned his hand to gold-mining in Colorado and Nevada. In 1894, he settled in Colorado Springs, where he lived until his death. He began writing at the age of 43, publishing his most successful book, The Log of a Cowboy, in 1903. His other works include A Texas Matchmaker (1904), The Outlet (1905), Cattle Brands (1906), Reed Anthony, Cowman: An Autobiography (1907), Wells Brothers (1911), and The Ranch on the Beaver (1927). The Log of a Cowboy is an account of a five-month drive of 3,000 cattle from Brownsville, Texas, to Montana in 1882 along the Great Western Cattle Trail. Although the book is fiction, it is firmly based on Adams's own experiences on the trail, and it is considered by many to be the best account of cowboy life in literature. Adams was disgusted by the unrealistic cowboy fiction being published in his day; The Log of a Cowboy was his response. It is still in print, and even modern reviewers consider it a compelling classic. The Chicago Herald said: "As a narrative of cowboy life, Andy Adams' book is clearly the real thing. It carries its own certificate of authentic first-hand experience on every page."

From AudioFile:

This story of a real cowboy's life in the late nineteenth century includes long, dusty cattle drives, stampedes, river crossings and Indian attacks. The characters who people the "Wild West" are interesting and vividly described. However, Murphey is not an inspired reader. He has a pleasant voice but fails to add drama or intensity with pacing or even changing volume. This work is not very suitable for audio as it is not action packed nor is there much dialogue. The abridgment is also short and not engrossing. Though billed as a "classic Western," this presentation will only appeal to real Western aficionados. S.C.A. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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