The Contract Surgeon [Hardcover]

Dan O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1999

A tale of bravery, medical daring, justice and love that recounts the unlikely friendships between the great war chief Crazy Horse and a U.S. Army surgeon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Humanizing heroes on both sides of the conflict, O'Brien reimagines the capture and tragically suspicious death of Crazy Horse, the great Sioux war chief, while in the custody of the U.S. Army in 1877. O'Brien's (Equinox) eighth book is a sensitive drama based on the true story of the unusual friendship between Crazy Horse and Dr. Valentine McGillicuddy, a civilian surgeon contracted to serve with the army during the Indian wars on the Great Plains. McGillicuddy relates the tale as an old man, recalling the heady days on the frontier when he was still idealistic and na?ve enough to believe that his fellow Americans meant no harm to the Indians. His years as a contract surgeon, however, take him on the great campaigns to eradicate the Sioux, and McGillicuddy soon learns that not all men are noble, honorable or even trustworthy. No shrinking violet or hand-wringing moralist, he faces his greatest moral test when Crazy Horse is bayoneted in the back by a soldier, and McGillicuddy is pressured by the army to keep the famous warrior alive, because his death would spur on the Indians to renewed battle. McGillicuddy and Crazy Horse had met briefly four years earlier, in a friendly, chance encounter at a waterhole, but during the chief's final hours, the doctor and his dying patient cement their instinctive connection, with far-reaching consequences. The treachery of the army and the complicity of Crazy Horse's own allies finally convince McGillicuddy to make a startling decision. This powerful story is a thinking man's western, in which action is secondary to O'Brien's nuanced exploration of character and the tragic dimensions of a morally fraught conflict. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-Based on actual events and characters, this novel is a wonderful dramatization of the final defeat of the Lakota Sioux and the death of the famous warrior, Crazy Horse. The story is told by Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy, who looks back on his experiences as a contracted surgeon for the army in the 1870s. Through Mac, the Dakota and Wyoming territories come to life. Readers learn of the Indian wars, the enmity between various segments of the Sioux nation, and the terrible treachery foisted on the Indians by the U.S. government. The real power of this story is the three dimensionality of the characters. Readers see Crazy Horse as a fierce warrior, a leader in the savage destruction of Custer and his troops, and as a worried husband when his wife falls ill. Willing to massacre troops he shrewdly leads into a trap, he also surrenders when his people are starving. While Mac also tells about the suffering of the U.S. troops during the brutal Indian wars, this book ultimately becomes a tribute to the tragedy of the Native Americans who were devoured by the growing pains of the United States. YAs should be caught up in this saga, and will come away from it with a vivid picture of this period in the country's history.
Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558219323
• ISBN-13: 978-1558219328
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you what you think you are?, June 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Contract Surgeon (Hardcover)

I'm Dan's Brother and thus not an impartial critic. Dan honored me by asking me twice to read drafts of "The Contract Surgeon" during it's creation. It's his best work. It has nothing to do with Falconry or dogs. It's rather a Historical Novel depicting Dan's conception of the death of Crazy Horse. Not just the death of the greatest known American Indian War Chief but the death of a social order we today have little record of. In "Instinct", Anthony Hopkins portrayed for us what we as humans have lost since we separated form wildness. In "The Contract Surgeon" Dan describes how we lost it.

Based on the scant facts available today, "The Contract Surgeon" tells the story of the last hours of Crazy Horse as he laid dying in the small Adjutants Office at Fort Robinson in Nebraska Territory in the late 1800's after he tried to surrender. During these short hours, and by the use of flashbacks and other literary tricks, Dan tells the story of the death of the culture of the American Plains Indians.

For those of us who have little or no knowledge of American Indian history, Dan provides a chronology that is very helpful and enables Dan to avoid a treatise length book while creating a Novel that is difficult to put down. May of the characters are familiar to us from high school Civil War history like Sherman, Meade and Custer. But more importantly Dan introduces us to several others like Valentine McGillycuddy, truly a remarkable person the figment of no one's imagination who sought no fame or fortune.

Dan's writing are full of questions about what our lives are all about and "The Contract Surgeon" is his best example. "The Contract Surgeon" is must reading for anyone who reads Dan's books for more than just the Falcons, dogs and their relationship to our souls.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A literary feast for the senses., December 30, 2001

By 

Bruce Ludwig (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contract Surgeon (Paperback)

I met Dan O'Brien in 1975 when a common love for fine horses, bird dogs and all things wild had enticed each of us into the early advent of what the practical in heart prophisied to be the follies of misguided youth. Our paths crossed and ran parallel for about three years until our separate and multifaceted career paths dictated decisions leading us in different directions. Even though I had been able to follow his successes with the Perigine foundation through reports from common aquaintences, I had not, until recently, known how far Dan had progessed in his desire to become a respected author. THE CONTRACT SURGEON, a far cry from the short stories of his youth, is the combination of careful research, and an intimacy with the land that can only be expressed by someone whose livelihood is hinged upon the vitality of a place as hostile yet fragile as the ancient grasslands of North America. Dan's vibrant word pictures, painted through army surgeon Valentine McGillycuddy's recollections of his own youthful passion for the Great Plains and its inhabitants, create a sensory overload which compelled me to read the whole book in one setting. No contemporary author has driven me to that point in many years. If you have ever connected with the land, fine horseflesh and wild places, keep a bandanna handy. Same goes for the warrior who has wondered how you can hate yet respect and even love the enemy. For the dreamers and the politically correct, who need a reality check, this one is for you too.

A fine read, crafted by a man whose misguided youth has proved visionary, not misspent. My compliments to Dan and his own Dr. McGraw. Whoever he is.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unsentimental and Hard-hitting, January 19, 2000

By 

Jonathan Streff (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contract Surgeon (Hardcover)

This is a well-written and exciting literary historical novel. O'Brien manages to steer clear of the cliches that are rampant in this genre by fully developing all of the novel's characters and creating dialogue that is never stilted or preachy. Above all, he presents a well-paced story set against the background of a complicated and humanistic take on the violent collision of two cultures that may not have been as different as we often think.