The Californios [Hardcover]

Louis L'Amour (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1986)
• ASIN: B000GQIDT8
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,998,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars California History/Mystery All In One!, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Californios (Mass Market Paperback)

This one doesn't really fall into the Western category, but it's full of hammering action, informative local California history, and mystic goings-on. Seacoast adventures, early Califronia ranching, great good-guys and really bad bad-guys, and mysterious appearances by silent, unknown characters fill this one to the brim! Best of all, L'Amour introduces in this story, for what I believe was the first time in his writings, the famous "portal to the other side," which really sets this story apart from almost all of his other works. Excellent yarn through and through. You won't forget it for a long time after you first read it!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars L'AMOUR WILL BE RENENBERED AS THE FINEST STORYTELLER!, February 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Californios (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read fourteen books of Louis L'Amour's writings and this one happened to be one of the best books I read. It's different, and keeps you wondering about what's goin' to happen next, and in the end leaves you with a big smile drawn upon your face!. If you haven't read The Californios, then you'd better go get it! It's one of his finest writings! I usually keep my books on a shelf but I stored this one among my most-loved possessions! Louis L'Amour is by far the greatest storyteller, and this is how he's going to be remembered until the end of time!.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating Storyteller, September 16, 2003

By 

Dr. W. G. Covington, Jr. (Edinboro, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Californios (School & Library Binding)

L'Amour masterfully describes the beautiful California scenery, the situations, and the characters, as he unfolds the plot in his reader's mind's eye. Included in this mix is the ever-present set of challenges facing the protagonists. As one of his characters says in this novel, "there is always trouble. One learns to live with it. A man grows through enduring." A few chapters over one of his characters observes "men must struggle or they deteriorate." Which leads to the addition of philosophy or worldview, another component of L'Amour's works. I agree with some of his sermonizing, i.e., issues such as a strong work ethic and bravery. I strongly disagree when he tries to subtlely preach acceptance of mysticism which is anti-Christian. Moving back to a more positive matter, L'Amour inserts elements of human relations in his works. For example in talking about Mariana visiting with Sean in this book he notes "she listened more to the man than to the words." In synergistically observing people and location, he notes how one impacts the other by writing "in New England and in northern Europe the seasons were short and the air brisk. One had little time to do what needed to be done. In California the seasons merged, dreamed one into the other, and what was not done today could be done tomorrow." If taken in context, i.e., specifially if one ignores his advocacy of anti-Christian spiritualism, he has a colorful, adventure story of the old West to tell.