Gone to Texas

It's been awhile since I posted anything here so I figured I'd make it a good one. I recently finished reading "Gone to Texas," by Forrest Carter. In case you ain't figgered it out by the photo to your left, "Gone to Texas" was the novel that inspired, in my humble opinion, the second greatest western movie of all time*, "Outlaw Josey Wales."

"Gone to Texas," one of only four books written by the terribly short-lived Forrest Carter, who died at, like fifty-five, I believe, was pure western mythology. Larger-than-life, but incredibly human characters and now imfamous one-liners, like, "Buzzards gotta eat same as worms," and "Hell's come to breakfast," filled the pages of this surprisingly short novel.

My favorite line in the whole book is when Josey was praying to God after the death of his riding partner Jamie Burns: "This here boy was brung up in a time of blood and dyin'. He never looked to question na'ar a bit of it. Never turned his back on his folks 'ner his kind. He has rode with me, and I ain't got no complaints. Amen." I imagine that's about as close to a prayer (and praise) as Josey could probably get.

All in all, Carter makes writing look easy. A natural story-teller who wasted few words, his style put you right in the saddle. I'm not much of a western reader, I prefer the movies, but this book is a "must read."

*That honor goes to Sam Peckenpah's horse opera masterpice "The Wild Bunch."