Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Gunfighters:
Guns? Check. Fights? Check. No lies detected.
Quick synopsis:
A look at all the Texan and Texas-adjacent gunfighters of the Wild West.
Fact for Non-History People:
The time of the “Wild West” only covers about 30 years.
Fact for History Nerds:
The Pony Express only lasted about 18 months.
My Take on The Gunfighters:
I think one of the hardest time periods to write about is the Wild West. Nearly every story it seems needs to end with a disclaimer saying, “At least that’s what we think happened.” An author needs to be able to present the truth while not forgetting to have fun with the absurdities of the time. In The Gunfighters by Bryan Burrough, it is quite clear he is having fun.
The subtitle of the book is “How Texas Made the West Wild,” is kind of beside the point. In fact, the connection Burrough tries to make might be the weakest part of the book. Yes, many of these stories are in Texas, or involve Texans, or people who spent time in Texas. I think you could swap out other states and this set of criteria would still hold true. It’s not that I disagree with the author on this, but even he seems to forget about this connection about a quarter of the way through. The same can be said of the honor code aspect of the West. It is explored early in the book but does not factor heavily later on. Does it matter? Nope, not really.
What does matter is if we get to hear about our favorite (or maybe just prolific) gunfighters along with some of the lesser-known folk who killed just as many people. Burrough nails this portion of the book, and it is the most important if we are being honest. Burrough writes in a very informal style with frequent quips and asides that I personally enjoyed immensely. Purists may find them distracting, but for the non-scholars, I think it makes the book more fun.
A minor quibble which is nearly impossible to avoid in a book like this is that some gunfighters get lengthy passages while others are footnotes. It can feel like a blitz of names at times with no chance for a reader to connect with particular stories. On the plus side, Burrough doesn’t shy away from dissecting the fake stories while trying to search for the truth. When it comes to the Wild West, sometimes you just want to believe the legends anyway.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by The Penguin Press.)
Verdict:
A lot of fun stories everyone can enjoy. Ya know, other than the horrific violence. Buy it here!
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