Customer Reviews

Billy the Kid: The Legend of El Chivato

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I'm a writer and actor who became interested in Billy The Kid and the events of the Lincoln County War in southeastern New Mexico when I played Pat Garrett in a production of Michael Ondaatje's play "The Collected Works of Billy The Kid", based on Ondaatje's poetic "novel" of the same name.

Over the last twenty years, I've visited the town of Lincoln, NM, on several occasions, talked with many of its inhabitants, and I think I've read every major historical work and most of the reputable works of fiction written about Billy and the war. I've seen a goodly protion of the movies, too; every single one of them laughable or lamentable, except for the director's cut of Sam Peckinpah's film, and even it has episodes that make you cringe.

Since 1973 there has been an astonishing amount of first-rate, genuine historiography done on The Kid, Garret, and the Lincoln County War. It is obvious from her novel that Ms. Fackler has read and thoroughly assimilated all of these recent histories. Consequently, if you have any interest in the Wild West, or Billy particularly, or just American history in general, or good writing, you have to read "Billy The Kid: The Legend of El Chivato," since the author puts all of this together in a very readable way. Also, her take on Billy is immensely sympathetic, well-rounded and most believable.

Even if this period has never attracted you, the novel is worth the time to read. I am not a big fan of historical novels, but it's a remarkable fact that in the long history of imaginative material about Billy there are hundreds of works including the ballet set to Copeland's music, and of them only one that I know of that is of any substance is written by a woman, Ms. Fackler, and her book is so much better, so much more thorough, so much more subtle and political and understanding and tender and detailed than all the rest put together (Mr. Ondaatje's work is in a sort of category of its own).

I have the hardcover, but her novel was published in a cheap paperback a few years ago; if you come across it, don't let the lurid cover that belongs more on a bodice ripper put you off. I see on Amazon that there is now a new paperback, more upscale, that has a cover more appropriate to the excellent writing and the nature of the material.

I highly recommend this book. It is certainly one of the greatest novels of the Wild West ever written, and it seems closer to the truth abut Billy than anything else we're ever likely to get.

I have read just about everything about Billy and the Lincoln County War, and this book is the best, and in my opinion, most accurate portrait of those times. Ms. Fackler's use of dialogue is compelling and real. The characters in this story have never been more alive for this reader, and the author's ability to weave all of the complex elements involved truly puts this work on the level of masterpiece. John Henry Tunstall, Alexander McSween, Susan McSween, James J. Dolan, Pat Garrett, Billy, and even the "minor" characters, are all clearly drawn. A book of this size and scope is usually read over the course of days or weeks, but the flow of action and language the author skillfully constructs kept me riveted to my chair until I finished reading. This is, undeniably, not only a great work of historical fiction, but a great work of fiction. If you enjoy reading a great story told with the utmost skill and passion, you must read this book. And I guarantee, you'll read it more than once. It is that good! Bravo Ms. Fackler!

Ms. Fackler is capable of getting into the minds of those who lived in the past and making them come alive in the pages of her book. Not only does she create a fascinating character study of "the Kid", she gives an accuarate picture of all those events that launched him into infamy. Her account of the Lincoln County War was presented in a manor that made me believe that I was actually experiencing it as it must have happened. This book is not just for fans of western novels. It is for everyone who enjoys an intelligently written and highly entertaining novel. Pat Fitzgeral

This is no doubt the best depiction ever of those gripping events in Lincoln County. She brilliantly brings Billy and the other complex and tragic characters alive, and makes us care about them all. She is a master storyteller and writes with a perfect honesty that makes everything real.

This is the "Kid" come alive as no one else has ever written it. His world, his lovers, his friends and enemies all walked off the page and filled my imagination as never before. Beautifully written, with a realistic portrait of his times and place, this book will live forever.

As you begin to understand and like the main character, Billy the Kid as he leads up to his fate you can only read on. One of the best books I have read.

Wow! This is the best fiction ever written about Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War. If you want to understand what happened then and how the Kid achieved his fame, this is the book. It's beautifully written. I couldn't put it down.

An interesting beginning loses steam quickly and is followed by endless tales of gun fights and a cast of way too many. Reading this book is hard work at times, and prose such as-- "Now they were to spend four hours together, and the fact that Garrett was the man who stood between the Kid and freedom would be the physical truth for that span of time."--is hard to take.

An interesting beginning loses steam quickly and is followed by endless tales of gun fights and a cast of way too many. Reading this book is hard work at times, and prose such as-- "Now they were to spend four hours together, and the fact that Garrett was the man who stood between the Kid and freedom would be the physical truth for that span of time."--is hard to take.