Bendigo Shafter [Paperback]

Louis L'Amour (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1988)
• ASIN: B000GQSPXC
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

More About the Author

"I think of myself in the oral tradition--as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of a campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered--as a storyteller. A good storyteller."

It is doubtful that any author could be as at home in the world re-created in his novels as Louis Dearborn L'Amour. Not only could he physically fill the boots of the rugged characters he wrote about, but he literally "walked the land my characters walk." His personal experiences as well as his lifelong devotion to historical research combined to give Mr. L'Amour the unique knowledge and understanding of people, events, and the challenge of the American frontier that became the hallmarks of his popularity.

Of French-Irish descent, Mr. L'Amour could trace his own in North America back to the early 1600s and follow their steady progression westward, "always on the frontier." As a boy growing up in Jamestown, North Dakota, he absorbed all he could about his family's frontier heritage, including the story of his great-grandfather who was scalped by Sioux warriors.

Spurred by an eager curiosity and desire to broaden his horizons, Mr. L'Amour left home at the age of fifteen and enjoyed a wide variety of jobs, including seaman, lumberjack, elephant handler, skinner of dead cattle, and miner, and was an officer in the transportation corps during World War II. During his "yondering" days he also circled the world on a freighter, sailed a dhow on the Red Sea, was shipwrecked in the West Indies and stranded in the Mojave Desert. He won fifty-one of fifty-nine fights as a professional boxer and worked as a journalist and lecturer. He was a voracious reader and collector of rare books. His personal library contained 17,000 volumes.

Mr. L'Amour "wanted to write almost from the time I could talk." After developing a widespread following for his many frontiers and adventure stories written for fiction magazines, Mr. L'Amour published his first full length novel, Hondo, in the United States in 1953. Every one of his more than 120 books is in print; there are more than 300 million copies of his books in print worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors in modern literary history. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and more than forty-five of his novels and stories have been made into feature films and television movies.

The recipient of many great honor and awards, in 1983 Mr. L'Amour became the first novelist to ever to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in honor of his life's work. In 1984 he was also awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan.

Louis L'Amour died on June 10, 1988. His wife, Kathy, and their two children, Beau and Angelique, carry the L'Amour publishing tradition forward with new books written by the author during his lifetime to be published by Bantam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should young men carry 1 book with them for life, it is this, September 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bendigo Shafter: A Novel (Paperback)

While no author of the western spins a yarn with as much accuracy as L'Amour, I consider this piece the finest ever penned about the frontier and the men who shaped this country thereby shaping themselves. The growth of Bendigo Shafter parallels that of America and as he learns, we see how the country learned. As he hurts, sweats, loses, gains, wishes, etc. so does this great land. Bendigo is a sentimental character with respect and appreciation for every moment of significance in his life. The God that watches over our country would see the pioneering spirit as the trusting, abiding, loving one of his own and L'Amour allows Shafter to show that heart. My sons will read this book many times as will theirs.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, entertaining read!, August 9, 2000

By 

Bruce A. Smith "Book Lover" (Croghan, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bendigo Shafter: A Novel (Paperback)

Until this past month, I hadn't picked up a Louis L'amour book in over fifteen years. While in high school, I read many of the Sackett books and some of the "stand-alones" but slowly drifted away from L'Amour's writing style. For some odd reason, while browsing through Amazon awhile back, I came across Bendigo Shafter and remembered that it was one of those books I always meant to read, but never did. Anyhow (to spare you the remainder of my life story), I purchased a copy and WOW am I glad! To be completely honest,out of the hundreds of books I've read - from Fantasy to Thriller - I don't remember many that have kept me this interested, entertained, and captured. I have truly savored each chapter of this book and felt disappointment each time I had to set it down. It's hard to express exactly how this book makes you feel, but you just seem to get a warm, comfortable feeling as you read it - much like you might get if you were sitting on your grandfather's lap, in front of a fire as he tells you stories of days long ago. Do yourself a HUGE favor and read this book. It is simply wonderful.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite LL, February 5, 2004

By 

Samuel B. White "Tuttle" (Lawton, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bendigo Shafter: A Novel (Paperback)

I am such a Louis L'Amour fan that both of my sons are named after characters from his novels. My youngest is named Ethan, from Ethan Sackett in this novel.
This is my second-favorite LL book ("Mustang Man"--from which I got my older son's name of Nolan--is #1). The writing is some of Louis L'Amour's best, the story is enthralling, everything you expect from L'Amour. What makes this better than even the rest of his stuff is that it tells more than one story. So often, I get to the end of a book and want to know what happened next to the main character. In "Bendigo Shafter" we find out what happened over several years to several people. This helps them all seem more human and, by the end, we feel like we're parting from good friends.
As an author myself (order my book from Amazon! "First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch"), my story telling style has been heavily enfluenced by L'Amour and especially this book.