Cowboy: A Novel [Paperback]

Sara Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2000

Some call it "cowboy feminism." Some call it "the last frontier in dating." Sara Davidson writes the "Intensely intimate, sexually compelling"* story of a romance between a writer and an unschooled rugged cowboy: "we walked, or I should say, leaped into the affair knowing that it had no future and we went on from moment to moment because we needed it and we were absolutely sure that in a short time, we would look at each other and have nothing to say and that would be that. Yet it has endured ... and it has taught me things I did not know about love, the body and the heart and the way we link ourselves to people who may not be politically or socially or in any way correct."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"What does a woman want? Rodeo and Juliet," concludes Maureen Dowd of the New York Times as she mulls over the greater sociological implications of Sara Davidson's Cowboy: A Love Story. Davidson made her mark with Loose Change, a lively account of young women coming of age and sleeping around in the '60s. Now in her 50s, she has mapped another trend: taking lovers low on the social food chain. In Cowboy, which she describes as a "fictionalized memoir," Davidson chronicles her real-life affair with Richard Goff, a rawhide braider who sports turquoise boots and has never heard of Anne Frank. She's 10 years his senior, was educated at Berkeley and Columbia, and was the lead director and co-executive producer of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Improbable match? You bet your Stetson.

The two were tethered in 1993 when Davidson covered a cowboy poetry festival in Elko, Nevada, for the New York Times (which he seemed to think was a multiplication problem). When she returned to Los Angeles, he sent gushy, grammatically challenged letters and leathery trinkets of affection. Davidson flew her Marlboro man in for the weekend; what she thought would be an overnight fling blossomed into a romance that has lasted years. From work and family to education and upbringing, their relationship has tested every aspect of Davidson's life: her prepubescent children won't let her forget they want the "hick" gone, her ex is threatening to take the kids away, and supporting her trailer-bound buckaroo is straining her career. Fortunately, her friends give their blessing: "When you're 49, your close, true friends don't care if he's the Elephant Man, as long as you're happy."

Cowboy is down-to-earth, charming, and shameless. You can't help but root for the heroine when she's plagued with self-doubt, even if the love scenes gallop out of control: "I grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. 'God! You'll quit bucking and I'll have my way with you!" Still, it's a testament that love comes in many packages and at any age. Yee-haw! --Rebekah Warren --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In this fictionalized memoir, Davidson, the former head writer for television's Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and author (Loose Change, Real Property, etc.), tells of her relationship with "Zack," a courtly and uneducated cowboy she meets on assignment in Elko, Nev., at a cowboy poetry gathering. She's soon drawn in by his sensitive nature and forthright sexuality, which she finds a refreshing contrast to the high-strung men she has met through the personals in L.A. following her divorce. But she's also pulled up short time and again by the cultural chasm between her life writing for a major TV show and his, getting by on crafting horse tack in Phoenix. As Sara and Zack see more of each other, her prepubescent children contrive to drive the two apart, while Zack provides his own brand of "tough love." Meanwhile, Sara's ex-husband disapproves of Zack's extended visits and tries to take custody of the children. Sara's friends and co-workers on the set of Dr. Quinn have a range of reactions to Zack, though no one gives the affair too much credence. Overall, this is an affable if wide-eyed account of the mixed emotions usually attending relationships that bridge cultural divides. Readers with Marlboro Man fantasies may find it a page turner. Agent, Joy Harris: author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Perennial; 1st Edition/ 1st Printing edition (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060931353
• ISBN-13: 978-0060931353
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,678,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Welcome! If you'd like to read an excerpt from Leap!, please visit my website, www.saradavidson.com. You can also get a free Leap! Workbook.

Now for the BIO:

Sara Davidson first captured America's imagination with her international best seller, "Loose Change," about three women growing up in the Sixties.

Sara grew up in California and went to Berkeley in the Sixties, where the rite of passage was to "get stoned, get laid and get arrested."

After Berkeley she headed for New York to attend the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Her first job was with the Boston Globe, where she became a national correspondent, covering everything from the election campaigns of Bobby Kennedy and Richard Nixon to the Woodstock Festival and the student strike at Columbia.

Returning to New York, she worked as a free-lance journalist for magazines ranging from Harpers, Esquire and the New York Times to Rolling Stone. She was one of the group who developed the craft of literary journalism, combining the techniques of fiction with rigorous reporting to bring real events and people to life. Her work is collected in the textbook, "The Literary Journalists," by Norman Sims.

Sara moved back to California where for 25 years, she alternated between writing for television and writing books. The books tend to fall in the gray zone between memoir and fiction. She uses the voice of the intimate journalist, drawing on material from her life and that of others and shaping it into a narrative that reads like fiction.

In television, she created two drama series, "Jack and Mike," and "Heart Beat," which ran on A.B.C. She was later co-executive producer of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," wrote hundreds of hours of drama episodes, movies and miniseries, and in 1994 was nominated for a Golden Globe.

In the year 2000, her life began to unravel. She was divorced, her children were leaving for college and she couldn't find work in television. Following her intuition, knowing nobody, she drove to Boulder, Colorado for three months to be a visiting writer at the University of Colorado. She never drove back, and is piecing together a different life which she writes about in Leap!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A curious combination of memoir and fiction., May 22, 2001

By 

Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cowboy: A Novel (Paperback)

Written by one of the writers for the TV show, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Davidson is a highly intelligent, well-educated lady that meets and falls in love with a cowboy from rural Arizona. Zack, who has knowledge of life on a different level, has grown up in the tradition of the old west. He is a man who works with his hands creating original and authentic bridles from strips of leather, a long lost art form. He has yet to hear of the Holocaust or the New York Times. This unlikely relationship progresses with all the properties of oil mixed with water at times while the underlying current is one of intense sexual attraction and love.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are strong and believable as odd as it might seem. You can't help but love them as they stumble along trying to make it all work. Sara is an incredible mom of two children that play a pivotal part in all of her decisions. She allows us to see her human side and shares her confusion as well as her problem solving capabilities, most of all she has heart. I for one thank her for a story well told. I can't help but wonder what part of the story is fiction. Kelsana 5/22/01

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful look at the differences one can overcome., June 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cowboy (Hardcover)

"Cowboy" was so compelling that I read it in one day while flying to Phoenix from Michigan. I couldn't put it down. It is truly the love story between two very different individuals. Zak and Sara had so little in common yet connected in such a special way. I found I was cheering for them when things were going well and feeling the pain of their struggles. The book was written from the author's perspective but provided enough of Zak's thoughts that one could see both perspectives clearly. There was fear, desire, acceptance, frustration, and a remarkable insightful thinking that evetually leads to growth. I, too, am in touch with a cowboy in another state. This book helped me to understand the struggles we are facing and to look inside for the answers. I've read "Cowboy" three times and still discover new insights as well as enjoy the humor and real life situations only this combination of unique differences could provide. Thank you, Sara!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Embarassingly bad!, May 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cowboy (Hardcover)

Boy, was I disappointed. Maybe because I loved "Loose Change" so much(admittedly, I read and loved it almost 20 years ago), I expected something deep, something insightful - but instead all I got was a shlocky romance novel written by someone with Ivy league credentials(I know that, because she beats us readers over the head with them.) All I could think of when I read this book was how mortified her real-life children must have been when they read sentences like "Zack started pumping for the finish line and I wrapped myself around him as he barreled to the edge and leapt off." I'm 40 years old and all I can say about a sentence like that is "Gag me with a spoon!"