Glorious (Cash McLendon #1) by Jeff Guinn

I’ve been a fan of Jeff Guinn’s non-fiction work ever since I read Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, his informative and exceedingly readable account of the Barrow Gang. When I saw he had written a couple of western fiction tales I wanted to try them so now I have.

If this first one is a true indicator of the rest of the series, I can emphatically say, I will be reading every book in the series, and any other fiction he decides to produce in the future. Jeff Guinn is a knowledgeable guy, a researcher extraordinaire with the nonfiction credits to prove it. It certainly shows up in his fiction as well. While the town of Glorious, Arizona is fictional it bears all the markings of a wannabe silver mining bonanza town. They haven’t struck silver yet, but the handful of town founders have put everything in their hopes and dreams.

The plot features Cash McLendon, a man on the run who makes the journey from St. Louis to Glorious, AZ Territory in 1872, chasing after a girl, a lost love. We’re not sure what he is running from in the opening pages, but we do get a nice flashback sequence later on that thoroughly grounds him in our hearts and minds. When he arrives in Glorious, he meets an oddball bunch of characters, and it is clear he doesn’t belong there. A true fish out of water, Cash has never held a gun or ridden a horse, but he does have that sense of stick-to-itiveness that is characteristic of the people of the West. As the novel unfolds, Cash, as well as us readers, come to love these townspeople and all their foibles. So, when the danger comes in the form of a prosperous power-hungry rancher intent on becoming lord of the territory and all its potential silver deposits, we genuinely fear for the townspeople’s futures.

I really enjoyed this one. Unlike many of today’s readers, I read a lot of westerns and have experienced the entire range of the genre, from literary masterpieces like Lonesome Dove to the adult westerns like "Longarm" and "Edge", to the latest potboiler yarn by the current house name authors. This one falls somewhere in between. It has some action but leans more toward the slow build-up of suspense rather than full-on six-shooter action. The real draw is the charm of the town of Glorious and its realistic, if sometimes quirky, characters. Actual historical characters make an appearance too, most notably Ike Clanton who plays a major role. Cash McLendon is a wonderful character, a man who learns to know what it is that he really wants from life, working toward it, making mistakes along the way, and still finding ways to take the nobler path even when it conflicts with his own goals.

The end of the novel leaves Cash and everybody else in a precarious situation so I need to procure book two pronto. Greatly looking forward to reading it and the rest of the series.

The Last Gunfight - The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral by Jeff Guinn

The Gunfight at the OK Corral is easily the most famous gunfight in American history. It has long since ascended into the ranks of mythology. Its participants, particularly Wyatt Earp, have been similarly elevated into the upper echelons of human consciousness…so much so that separating fact from fiction is surely a daunting task.

While I have long been a fan of this historical event, it was not the subject itself that first drew me to this book. In fact, it was the author, Jeff Guinn. I had read his book, "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde" about another great American myth, steeped in actual history. I was so impressed with the author’s ability to pierce the veil of the legend and tell the real story while simultaneously delivering an excellent, enjoyable read, that I knew I would be searching out more of his work.

This book presents the “facts” of the infamous gunfight in a fairly linear order. Jeff Guinn invests some time with the backgrounds of the major players, including the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, the Clantons, the McLaurys, Johhny Ringo, Curly Bill, and a number of important but much lesser-known people who had an impact on what occurred that fateful day in October, 1881. It is clear from early on that the Earps and Doc Holliday were no saints themselves. Interestingly, Guinn also depicts the history of Tombstone itself, treating it (by design, I think) as its own character. 

The issue of just how to separate the facts from the fiction is surely a formidable task for any chronicler of such an event, especially considering the official record (court documents, eyewitness statements, etc.) are hugely tainted with bias depending on which faction one supported. As the book progresses, the time scale slows as we get closer to the gunfight, going into an almost hour by hour and then minute by minute account. The aftermath is also thoroughly explored, including the various court cases that resulted, the back-and-forth opinion of the townspeople, the murder of Morgan Earp, and the infamous “Vendetta Ride” by Wyatt and friends. A final chapter, entitled “Legends” provides an interesting summation of what happened to each of the participants and where they ended up. This section also includes an examination of Wyatt’s later-in-life attempts to ensure his own legacy as well as how books, television, and movies have transformed the event into the near-myth that it is today. I was especially interested in how it became known as the “Gunfight at the OK Corral”, considering it didn’t actually happen there. But “The Shootout at the Vacant Lot Next to Fremont Street” just doesn’t have that same ring to it.

This is not simply another biography of Wyatt Earp. The author tries (and I think succeeds) to blend all the available information in order to provide a proper context to the entire event. Even today, historians argue the various circumstances of what exactly happened. Was Tom McLaury armed or not? Did Wyatt kill Curly Bill at the end of his Vendetta Ride or did he live? Where was the exact location of the Benson Stage Robbery which played so importantly in the growing rivalry? Where necessary, the author lets us know of the conflicting theories.

I really enjoyed this book. I chose to read it over a couple of weeks rather than just sit down and plow through from cover to cover. Somehow, that seemed appropriate for the subject matter and made the reading experience a little more epic. Mythological, you might say.

Highly recommended.

Go Down Together by Jeff Guinn

As an aficionado of crime fiction, I thought I would dip my toe into the non-fiction world of real life crime.  Like many people, I had heard bits and pieces about various criminal celebrities of the 1930s, like Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker, and Bonnie and Clyde.  Part of my brain realized their real life stories were probably far from what has been depicted in the movies, TV, etc. so  at the recommendation of a good friend who studies this era of crime, I chose to read this book about Bonnie and Clyde.

What an eye opener!  Forget everything you may have heard or seen particularly if you have seen the movie starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  Jeff Guinn, the author of this book has meticulously researched this saga, and provides an extensive source listing.  It’s so complete that it seems almost every line in the text is sourced from a letter, an interview, police reports, etc.  Hats off to his comprehensive research efforts.

I was struck by the story of these two people, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.  Growing up in the West Dallas slums and maturing only as the Great Depression hit obviously had a huge impact on them.  But plenty of other people lived through those exact same circumstances and did not make the same choices.  To see how a combination of their life situations, extremely bad luck, their self-image, and extremely good luck led them to their life paths is fascinating reading.

Some tidbits:

   1) Clyde Barrow was the absolute leader of the duo as well as of all the reincarnations of the Barrow Gang.  Bonnie was really just along for the ride.  In fact up until the Warren Beatty movie, they were known as “Clyde and Bonnie” or more often, “The Barrow Gang”, not “Bonnie and Clyde”

   2) It’s hard to believe how much the law enforcement community was shackled during that era.  Very little ability to communicate, very poor resources, no federal support (J Edgar Hoover was just getting started).  They couldn’t even pursue a criminal across state lines.  Difficult to believe they ever caught anybody!

   3) The overall time frame of Clyde and Bonnie’s time in the sun, so to speak, was really very short.  From their rise to national fame after the Joplin incident to their ultimate death by ambush was a mere 14 months.

   4) The Barrow Gang (as did Dillinger) continuously robbed National Guard armories to get their weapons.  Dozens of times.  Hard to believe but that seemed far easier for them than robbing a bank or even a supermarket.

   5) Up until 1934 when the duo died, there were no penalties for harboring fugitives.  Clyde and Bonnie (and other members of their gang) visited their home in Dallas many, many times during their rampage.  This was well known by the local police but they simply didn’t have the resources for a stake out.  And the family and friends never worried about the consequences of harboring.  But, as a result of Clyde and Bonnie’s saga, the laws were soon changed.

   6) The myth of Clyde, Bonnie, and the Barrow Gang arose largely due to the times.  Depression era Americans were usually desperate for entertainment to take their mind away from their troubles.  Journalists of the era were more like fiction writers and frequently printed headlines with no basis in fact.  Both Bonnie and Clyde loved reading about their larger-than-life selves in “True Detective” magazine and the newspapers and yet also complained when they were blamed for crimes with which they had no involvement.

Overall, this is a fascinating read.  I actually took my time reading it so as to absorb the impact of each chapter.  To be there at the scene of a getaway when the Barrow Gang is trapped with no way out…and yet they somehow manage to escape is incredible.   And it wasn’t due to mastermind-like intelligence either.  Neither Clyde nor Bonnie displayed much smarts in their lives but they sure did benefit from mother luck. Many times various members of the gang were wounded horribly but kept on going.  Bonnie herself was almost crippled after Clyde, a dangerously fast driver at all times, slid off the road and the resulting accident spilled battery acid down Bonnie’s leg.   After that, Clyde had to carry her wherever they went. Their lives were not glamorous in the least but rather lived day-to-day, mostly camping out and eating on blankets.  By the end of their lives they were both extremely thin and, due to various injuries, could hardly stand. 

I could go on and on about various scenarios but suffice it to say, real life can, indeed, be stranger, and more unbelievable than fiction.  Reading this book has made me yearn to learn more about other “celebrity criminals” of the era.