The Ghost Wagon and Other Great Western Adventures - Hardcover

Brand, Max

4

9 ratings by Goodreads

9780803212657: The Ghost Wagon and Other Great Western Adventures

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803212658 ISBN 13: 9780803212657

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 1996

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The Ghost Wagon and Other Great Western Adventures collects four additional short novels by Max Brand not previously published in book form. These novels represent some of the best of Brand’s western writing. They illustrate the expansiveness of Brand’s imagination and the fecundity with which he would vary his themes, examining the human condition from numerous disparate viewpoints.

In Max Brand’s stories no character is either a hero or a villain, and most are mixtures of both. That is certainly the case in “The Ghost Wagon,” first published in 1921. Both Lew Carney and Jack Doyle love Mary Hamilton—and she has plans of her own. “Rodeo Ranch” proved one of Brand’s most popular short novels the year it first appeared in Western Story Magazine (1923). “Slip Liddel” (1938) is set during the Depression and centers on a poor man’s revenge. It is reminiscent of Brand’s own unhappy early years as a farm and ranch laborer. “A Matter of Honor” was published under the title “Jerico’s Garrison Finish” in 1921. The story has much more to do with Jim Orchard’s struggles to distinguish between honor and pride than with mere horse racing.

Brand’s fiction was frequently amputated by magazine editors seeking to fit it to the page, and his titles were often changed to appear more exciting or appealing. Jon Tuska has returned to the original manuscripts, restoring the full texts and original titles.

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From Publishers Weekly:

Like the four Brand tales in The Black Rider and Other Stories (which features an identical foreword and is reviewed above), the four short novels in this anthology are now appearing outside of pulp publication for the first time. Brand's stories are theme-driven; these four are all mysteries, each offering just the right balance of tension, suspense and believability. "The Ghost Wagon" (1921) is a haunting tale of murder, deception and conspiracy that sets gambler and gunman Lew Carney on a chilling and dangerous quest for truth. A horse racing story, "A Matter of Honor" (also 1921), reveals that pride and honor have many different meanings for a generous but unlucky cowboy. "Rodeo Ranch" (1923), a short novel of murder and redemption, presents some intriguing plotting as a wealthy and fearful landowner hires a gunslinger as a bodyguard, with unexpected results. "Slip Liddell" (1938), meanwhile, is a taut story of friendship and courage that sees the eponymous gambler take on danger, scorn and humiliation in order to clear the name of a friend. Brand's stories are enchanting for their simplicity, truth and relevance; perhaps that is why they have endured for more than half a century.

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