By John D. Fitzgerald
Copyright 1958
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I think the Foreword to this book did a great job of summing up what it was all about, it read:
“There was more to the settling of the West than the battles between Cattle Barons and Sheepmen, Outlaws and Posses, White Men and Indians, Ranchers and Homesteaders which have been told in story and song over and over again.
There were other people who helped put down the roots of the West: the banker, the editor, the schoolteacher, the judge, the clergyman, the merchant, the artist, the saloonkeeper, the miner, the town drunk and the town bully.
This is their story.”
I read a lot of nonfiction so mixing in some fiction is always a nice change of pace. This was a perfect book for that purpose. A story shooting (pun intended?) back into a time I don’t know from personal experience but can relate to in all the cowboys v. natives fights I setup with my toys growing up.
I feel like the world has become increasingly fascinated by extreme fantasy – dragons and magic; or space travel – spaceships, aliens, and inter-galactic battles; or superheroes – Marvel and DC. I think one of the greatest tragedies of this transition is kids not growing up with a fascination of something that really happened, here in the United States, in the last century. Like I alluded to already, gun slinging bandits only slowed down by gun toting sheriffs – that was my favorite imaginary time as a kid. I loved the idea of a bandit coming into town to rob the corner store and another gun wielder being the only defense.
This book took me right back into my old imagination. A town where guns are on most hips as a matter of protection. The value in this book was the story telling from the perspective of a young man growing up in an early western settlement in Utah. If you enjoy the western theme, I think this is a great book for you.
This book is the sequel to another book: Papa Married a Mormon, with a third in the series titled: Uncle Will and the Fitzgerald Curse. I haven’t read Papa Married a Mormon but stumbled upon it in my collection of soon to be read books, so will read it soon. I didn’t get the feeling I was missing much having not read the first book. The story made complete sense to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book is 241 pages but is a quick and easy read. I would recommend it to anyone, especially anyone who enjoys the Western theme.
No Coincidences 