Customer Reviews

Bad Guys: True Stories of Legendary Gunslingers, Sidewinders, Fourflushers, Drygulchers, Bushwhackers, Freebooters, and Downright Bad Guys and Gals of the Wild West

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If you want a good summary on the lives of a few desperados and gunslingers that became popular legends of the Wild West, then this book is a pretty good start. Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickock, Billy the Kid, Doc Holliday, Black Bart, Belle Starr, and other legendary lives are explained and illustrated by Andrew Glass in this 48 pages book.

For its content, the author takes the time to explain how those gunslingers' lives were influenced by incidents from their lives that made them who they became, so that we can have a sense of empathy for them and understand why they did what they did, whether or not some readers will agree with this.

As for the illustrations, Andrew Glass's pastel drawings are lively and show both a portrait of the gunslinger/desperado, along with some of the incidents that occurred in the lives of those people.

As a side-note, I would have liked to see in the final pages a bibliography of all the books, documents and institutions that the author consulted or visited to make this book. That way, we could be certain that what Andrew Glass says is 100% straight-facts and it would be a good way for the readers of this book to have an idea of what other documents or institutions they could consult if they want to learn more about the Far West and its people.

While waiting for a haircut in a barbershop along Route 66, the author read a Police Gazette story about Doc Holliday. Since this was the most memorable experience of his fourth grade year, he was inspired to share the excitement with young readers. The stories discuss such legendary Wild West figures as Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Joaquin Murietta. While Glass's narrative reveals that the true facts behind these stories were greatly enhanced by eastern newspapers, his illustrations are colorful and lively enough to perk up the legendary version. Young readers will probably enjoy this subject as much as Glass did when he was a boy. Their parents may be put off by the illustrations in an era when there is a heightened awareness of guns.