A number of years ago I heard some stories about ranch and western life I thought were among the funniest anecdotes I had ever heard. It started a quest. Over a ten-year span I interviewed 150 cowboys, ranchers, and others, mostly in Texas and Nebraska. The result is "Cowboys, Ranchers, and Assorted Characters: True Tales from the New West." It's the best-of-the-best anecdotes from those encounters. Two-hundred-sixty pages (100,000 words) of laugh-out-loud tales of cowboys and cattlemen, ropers and riders, pranksters and brawlers, odd neighbors and crazy bulls, arranged in a collection of 22 profiles/character sketches. For authenticity sake, the narrative voice is toned-down western vernacular. All Americans--whether rural, urban, or suburban dwellers--have been infused with the cowboy mystique through television and movies. We're nostalgic for the ranch we did NOT grow up on. These stories tap into that hidden part of America's collective psyche. But you don't have to be some sort of cowboy enthusiast to enjoy these stories. Their broad appeal derives from the fact that they are simply about people (some of the funniest characters you'll ever meet) whose stories just so happen to come wrapped in a cowboy/rancher/western theme.
This book is everything a wide-ranging general non-fiction reader is looking for: it's original, funny, entertaining, well written, there is strong storytelling, colorful characters, and a unique setting. Imagine Studs Terkel roaming the west and writing about the people he runs into and you'll have a good feel for this book. It's just plain fun, and priced at $3.99 it's a can't-miss value.
