Annie Oakley [Paperback]

Shirl Kasper (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Although thought of as a Westerner, Oakley was a very proper Ohioan who was determined to be the best in the very competitive world of sharpshooting. Kasper details Oakley's life and career, carefully documenting major points that have become lost in the legend, such as her decision to join Buffalo Bill's Wild West, her meeting with Sitting Bull, and the real reason why her hair turned white at age 41. This careful attention to documentation has yielded an account that is as accurate as existing sources allow and that supersedes all previous biographies. Presented in an enjoyable and readable style, this is strongly recommended for all public libraries. Specialists in the history of shooting sports, performing arts history, and the West will also find this book useful.
- Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

A fact-filled, if flatly executed, attempt to uncover the truth behind an American legend, by Kansas City Star reporter Kasper. Relying largely on Oakley's own scrapbooks, Kasper reveals a complex character far removed from the rough Western tomboy mythologized in popular lore. Born Phoebe Ann Moses to a Quaker farming family in Ohio, Oakley (1860-1926) discovered her lifelong passion and extraordinary talent at age eight after sneaking off with her father's hunting rifle. When she was 20, local farmers pitted her against circus sharpshooter Frank Butler in an impromptu contest. Winning both the match and her rival's heart, Oakley (who married Butler) soon gained a career when she stepped in for her new husband's ailing partner. In 1886, with Butler now serving as devoted manager and assistant, Oakley joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Petite and slender, clad in a prettily embroidered skirt and blowing kisses, the ``prim'' star used ``humor, pantomime, and drama''--along with astounding shooting prowess--to captivate audiences in America and Europe for 17 years, finally retiring with dignity and self-made fortune intact. Kasper pointedly emphasizes the ``paradox'' informing both Oakley's appeal and her place as a ``symbol of the liberated woman.'' Conservative and proper, she was appalled by bloomers and uncertain about women's suffrage--but, at the same time, she was a feminist ``despite herself,'' constantly proving the truth of her statement that women could equal men in anything ``outside of heavy, manual labor.'' Despite first-rate research, though, Kasper fails for the most part to go past quotes and chronology to the deeper historical and personal analysis necessary to animate Oakley and her world. The result is an admirable but unsatisfying sketch. A bit wide of the mark but with a worthy enough target to warrant readers giving it a shot. (Thirty illustrations.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806132442
• ISBN-13: 978-0806132440
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Annie Oakley by Shirl Kasper is the best book I've read., June 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Annie Oakley (Hardcover)

Shirl Kasper has written the most historically accurate book on Oakley. Her marriage to Butler was in 1882, remember she loped 6 years off her age when another younger woman sharpshooter joined Buffalo Bill's show? She was 21 when she married Butler, not 16 as many books show.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A page turner!!, August 3, 2003

By 

"bdbeatle1" (O.P. KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Annie Oakley (Hardcover)

What an excellent book!! I could not put this book down!! It is a definate page-turner!! Very well written. The author did her research as it gives an insight to a great historical figure. I highly recommend this book!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Annie would have loved it, June 25, 2009

By 

Garman Lord - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Annie Oakley (Paperback)

This book is one of the best you could ask for on one of the least understood artifacts of Americana; Annie Oakley, the woman and the legend, the Cowgirl of the Golden West... NOT. In fact, who Annie really was is a far more fascinating tale than anything to be gleaned out of the "Annie get your gun-" type exploitational tributes and memorabilia, of which the real and unique Annie surely deserves better, and it's a tale Shirl Kasper tells consummately well. The text is sprightly, readable and lovingly detailed. To really know and understand Annie is to know and understand the America she lived in, about which our perceptions are more phony-baloney Ned Buntline-distorted than perhaps of any other American epoch. Excellent foundation volume for any American pop-cultural bookshelf.