Customer Reviews

Bloody Season

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Estleman's take on the Earp saga is now an extremely dated work of historical fiction. It seems Estleman found himself, for one reason or another, pandering to the revisionist craze that dominated Western academic historiography from the 1960s-1990s. (The novel was originally published in 1987.) Unfortunately for Estleman, one of his main sources, the memoirs of Allie Earp edited by Frank Waters, has since been proven to be a fraud. It is obvious that Waters's now infamously fictionalized tale posing as "history" is the basis for "the Earps were nothing but lowdown pimps, crooked gamblers and shakedown artists posing as lawmen" interpretation that Estleman presents in this novel. The reason it is pretty obvious is that Estleman conveys this message mainly through the character of Allie Earp in dialogue and narration taken almost directly from Waters's book. Given that this is the main thrust of the plot of the novel, there is really nothing positive one can say for it as "historical" fiction. Interestingly, by the time this novel was reprinted in 1999, it was pretty clear that Waters was a fraud. In a "Postscript" to the 1999 edition Estleman writes that he attempted to tell the story "with as much accuracy and objectivity as is possible" but concludes by saying that his novel is "not history." His failure to address here his use of Waters as a source is telling.

As a piece of pure fiction "Bloody Season" is not bad but certainly not remarkable either; it is a work of pretty standard prose. I would skip this one and read Robert B. Parker's "Gunman's Rhapsody," which is more accurate historically than Estleman's offering and superior aesthetically because the form of Parker's spare prose style perfectly matches his conceptual content of the stoic western gunman.

Of the hundreds of books written about Tombstone and the Arizona Territory during the times of the Clanton and Earps I'd give this one the highest marks. Although it's a fictionalized history, Estleman manages to capture several traits concerning the period I've never seen in non-fiction.

No US Territory during the 19th Century was exactly the shiny ideal we're tempted to assign to America. While the Tombstone marshals Earp faction were battling the Presidential appointed Territorial Governor appointed Sheriff Behan/Clanton faction in Territorial Arizona over who could seize power, steal the most cattle, rob the most stage-coaches loaded with silver from the nearby mines, similar events were happening in New Mexico and other Territories. Estleman re-creates the nature of this politically motivated war for raw power descended directly from Washington DC as few writers have managed to do. The author is also careful to explain to his readers where he's deviated from documented fact, such as in the details of conversations between the parties.

Estleman also avoids the pitfalls of so many writers by seeing a clear distinction between courage and heroism. Men willing to enthusiastically face other armed men in gun battles from a distance of a few feet are certainly in possession of fearlessness, or courage. In Tombstone, Arizona, such fearlessness was rife on both sides of the local war. The author succeeds in communicating the fact that such profound courage doesn't necessarily accompany virtue of any other sort. Tombstone was a war between brave men of ambition. The ground they fought for was profit and naked power. Nothing more, nothing less.

I'm giving this book five stars because of the eggs it breaks.

Dietz is a veteran of over 75 audio book productions per the back cover, and he reads this action-packed, myth-busting Western with dramatic flair. Dietz sounds like an Old West cowboy character with a gravelly, terse voice. He makes the scene come alive and so real I could smell the blood and sweat. It's 1881, Tombstone, Arizona Territory, and the gunfight at OK Corral has occurred and the Earps and Doc Holliday have been arrested. From negotiations with the sheriff and Virg and Morgan Earp's injuries to Doc's frustrated beating of Big Nose Kate plus Wyatt's assignation with a prostitute, nothing is left out. Dietz struggles with the female voices, but that's not too distracting. Even though you think you know the story, this performance and account of the ultimate Western adventure are a terrific combination and will be enjoyed by all.

The first sentence of Bloody Season grabs you and the book won't let you go: He was dying faster than usual that morning . . . Estleman introduces Doc Holiday with those painful words.

Then with careful detail, he dismantles the fiction of the OK Corral, replacing it with fascinating reality. I used to sip well whisky in saloons in Tombstone back in the early 70s. How I wish I had Estleman's vision when I was there.

I have seen via film the ok corral story and have seen it slanted in goodguy badguy format. The film that came closer to the truth was the one called tombstone starring curt russel,val kilmer. By watching western history on the history channel i learned that there were no goodguys or badguys but a struglle for power. Wyatt earp wanted marshall Behan's job and made a quiet deal with the clanton's and mclourie's to help him catch johnnie ringo and curly bill brosus who had with the clantons/mclourie been robbing stage coaches and rustling cattle and horses,the deal fell through. The Clantonmclourie gang for fear of curly bill and johnnie ringo's gangs coming back on them decided to cover their tracks by picking a fight with the earps. They were over their heads against the earps who were true gunfighters. Despite the fact that the story is fiction,it transcends ficion. There are no cardboard characters in this story they are all flesh and blood characters Big Nose Kate Elder ,Johnny Behan, and the most inigmatic is Wyatt Earp. If the scheme had have been sucessful, Wyatt Earp might have been able to unseat Marshall Behan. This story is spellbinding. Loren D estleman is a magician.

Tombstone 1881. A brief clash of wills, commonly known as the gunfight at the OK Corral, became indelibly etched in the American imagination. Loren D. Estleman takes this familiar story and fleshes it out into a whopping good yarn. But beware! You don't gulp "Bloody Season" like a hastily eaten meal; you savor every bite of this well-written tale. From the opening page of Doc Holliday hacking over a sink on a crisp October morning to the closing narrative regarding the outcome of "Season's" principal players, you'll be hooked by Estleman's exceptionally well-penned, descriptive prose. If you think you've been to Tombstone, think again. You've yet to relive its graphic past until you've been there during the "Bloody Season."

I have been privileged to read many books on the Troubles in Tombstone from S. Lake's larger than life treatment to A. Barra's recent offering. I found Estleman's treatment, the novelization, to be refreshing while very informative. He gives a certain life to the principals of the ever popular 1881 incident rather than the stiff renditions of the facts.

This is undoubtedly the worst book ever written about the Earps and the OK Corral Gunfight. It could have been the best. Estleman was provided with the confidential files of the world's foremost Earp authority and chose to betray the trust that gained him access to them, which he had obtained by his statement: "If I do this story right, no one will ever have to set the Earps and Doc off down Fremont St. again. "RIGHT" IS THE KEY WORD IN THAT STATEMENT. BUT HE DIDN'T DO IT RIGHT, OR EVEN COME CLOSE. He did it wrong almost from the first scene, which famous "classical" Western writing Icon, Dick Wheeler characterized as a scene, "THAT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY." WHAT WILL BLOW ONE AWAY? WELL, THIS SCENE HAS THE DEATHLESS WORDS; "Doc Holliday was dying a little faster than usual." It takes place in Doc's room at Fly's boarding house in Tombstone where he is allegedly coughing up blood into the wash bowl and examining it. Unfortunately for RIGHT, Doc's TB was in arrest all the while he was in Tombstone. Loren doesn't miss another opportunity to blow us away by a reference in this same scene, to the night soil in Doc's (long john?) underwear, either, foretelling a litany of filth to follow.


This is a book full of references to stench and excrement, suggesting that the author is fascinated with filth and other things that repel most people, or is trying to appeal to the part of the public so afflicted, which he must assume is a majority.


In addition he may unconsciously reveal his own religious bias in slurs against Catholics characterized by a scene in an Ursuline nunnery where Doc Holliday's mistress Big Nose Kate, as a girl, is allegedly subjected to a lesbian rape by nuns. He doesn't fail to mention the smell of fish he thinks was involved. This is history? This is more filth and also evinces the obvious bigotry that got him widely attacked by Earp aficionados, and the family and friends of those on whom he attempted character assassination. The reaction included the Christian Science Monitor, where the editor who had published an initial favorable review (perhaps based on reading no more than the dust jacket) was aghast at the backlash, and published much of it.


This is a book that might better have been left in the word processor. Jeannie Williams, a longtime resident of Cochise County in which Tombstone is located, and noted for the depth of the research that characterizes her books on the West, took Estleman to task for his ignorance of the most fundamental aspects of the country - Estleman has the San Pedro River flowing south (thus uphill) the crash of gunfire from the famous gunfight echoes back from the Huachuca Mts. (35 miles away) the smoke from the Tombstone fire is seen in Prescott (200 miles away beyond several intervening mountain ranges) the last buffalo wanders up out of Mexico (buffalo never having been seen west of the Rio Grande some 160 miles east - and moreover the "last buffalo" scene is a direct steal from Moreton Frewen's "Melton Moray and Other Memories") an armadillo runs around the San Pedro River bottoms, (being native to Texas), cedar trees grow in Tombstone. As Tombstone's official historian Ben Traywick commented on that, "Holy Cow! He should have known better - he was here at least two hours."


Estleman's editor, Greg Tobin, pronounced Estleman "the real thing." He was obviously as ignorant as the readers victimized by this pap, being famous himself for writing in one of his own books, how Benito Juarez, president of Mexico, expressed concern for the fate of the Sacred Tilma (a Catholic sacred relic) ignorant of the fact that Juarez was rabidly anti-church.


Needless to say both Estleman and Tobin are lauded on their dust jackets as "meticulous researchers", a mantle so loosely conferred and so popular as to have given rise to the term: "Dust Jacket Historian."


I pity innocent readers who are roped in by this sort of garbage. As one Earp authority commented, "If he'd titled this book Seedy Bludgen" it would have come closer to the fact. A small publisher offered to turn it into a classic if ever reprinted, by inserting the subtitle: "An unconscious burlesque."


What can one say further? Well, maybe: "Save your time and money."


And if you're really interested in the Earps and Tombstone, read some of the earlier books, contributed to by the first hand knowledge of those who were there: Helldorado by Billy Breaknridge; Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns; Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal, by Stuart Lake; I Married Wyatt Earp, by Wyatt's widow; but for Heaven's sake don't read Frank Waters EARP BROTHERS OF TOMBSTONE, a fraud from the first word to the last. These books are all reviewed on Amazon, by the way. Read the reviews.

Bloody Season by Loren D. Estleman is one of the best fictional works out there that examine the famous fight at the OK Corral. Literate and deeply-researched the novel only really fails when it delves into modern day medical/forensic terminology to describe the wounds and trauma suffered by the participants.

On every other level this book is pretty solid and if you want a good gateway read into learning about this famous gunfight (which actually took place on Fremont Street and not the OK Corral) you could do a lot worse than Bloody Season.

Give it a peek.

Estelman's "version" of what actually happened at the OK Corral is based on documented historical facts and what Estelman creates as far as his characters and their motivations -- the product is an excellent story that is just plain old enjoyable.