Cowboys Are My Weakness [Paperback]

Pam Houston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1993

"I've always had this thing for cowboys, maybe because I was born in New Jersey. But a real cowboy is hard to find these days, even in the West," says the narrator in the title story of Pam Houston's critically acclaimed collection. In these strong, shrewd, and very funny stories, we meet smart women who are looking for the love of a good man, and men who are wild and hard to pin down. Our heroines are part daredevil, part philosopher, all acute observers of the nuances of modern romance. They go where their cowboys go, they meet cowboys who don't look the part -- and they have staunch friends who give them advice when the going gets rough. Cowboys Are My Weakness is a refreshing and realistic look at men and women -- together and apart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A gifted storyteller and a fine writer, Houston brings insight and an original perspective to the heavily trafficked gender divide in her short-story collection, which was a two-week PW bestseller in cloth.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Houston, whose short stories have appeared in such periodicals as Mirabella and Mademoiselle , now has her first collection, the highlights of which are "How To Talk to a Hunter," a story selected for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories, 1990 ( LJ 10/1/90), and "Selway." Though these two stand out, the collection as a whole showcases a fresh, original, strong feminine voice. Houston is almost Hemingway-esque in her spare prose, yet richly eloquent in her descriptions of the Western sensibility. "How To Talk to a Hunter" oozes sensuality and masculinity, while at the same time getting inside the feminine mind in love with a man of few words. Likewise, "Selway" brilliantly shows what the experience of loving an adventurer is like. Houston is a part-time guide in Alaska. This is a strong woman who is wise and cynical but refreshingly optimistic. Her view of man-woman relationships is realistic: wise women get involved with "cowboys" they should know better, but they don't. Recommended.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.
Copyright 1991 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: 171 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671793888
• ISBN-13: 978-0671793883
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Published as fiction, but does anyone believe THAT?, October 28, 2003

By 

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cowboys Are My Weakness (Paperback)

Pam Houston's fictional characters somehow to always seem like the great lady herself, eccentric, strong, athletic, daring, and tough. And then there are the men. They have it tough in Houston's world, and no wonder. Sometimes even she agrees that she probably treats her dogs better than she does her men.
However, while her women are gutsy, they are still vulnerable, still learning, still making mistakes, and the biggest seems to be falling for inaccessible men. As her character says in the title story of this collection, "I've always had a thing for cowboys...but they're hard to find these days, even in the West."
Full of gender-heavy wisecracking, Cowboys are My Weakness will have you laughing, groaning, and crying. Enjoy yourself.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outdoorsy Romance Transcends Usual Corset Busting, June 20, 2000

By 

Renee Thorpe (Karangasem, Bali) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cowboys Are My Weakness (Paperback)

Given to me by the same friend who sent me "Girl Interrupted," "Anywhere But Here," and "Sin," I figured this must be something worth reading.

Starting out, I began to think this was going to be a Rosamonde Pilcher type book, and "Cowboys..." does share Pilcher's usual theme: independent-woman-finds-love-in-the-arms-of-someone-cooler-and-smarter-than-Fabio. And the title of the collection implies a lot: the protagonists are all generally strong women who lose it over the Marlboro Man.

But there is an underlying pathos in the collection, an electric charge of wild man and level-headed woman. I am sure you could turn out a killer essay exploring the sexual politics in these stories, but they are also just good fun.

The tales are very well-written, and the settings are very nicely described. If the reader wants to feel what it'd be like to escape to the high desert with a trapper like Jim Bridger or to the mountains with a cute outlaw like Jesse James, reading this book is a good way to do that.

The writer's obvious familiarity with exciting, rugged skills like snow camping and game scouting is impressive, and this knowledge gives the stories extra substance.

Warning to animal lovers: contains hunting.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cowboys don't have to be jerks!, July 27, 2001

By 

Elisabeth Keating (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cowboys Are My Weakness (Paperback)

My friends recommended this book to me, and I was really prepared to LOVE it. But, as much fun as it is to read these stories over a weekend, by Sunday night, I found myself disappointed with the whole sort of flat/one sided depiction of relationships. Yes, I can relate to the line, "I've always had this thing for cowboys, maybe because I was born in New Jersey. But a real cowboy is hard to find these days, even in the West." And as someone who grew up in Connecticut and moved West, I agree that there's a truth to the concept of a western type of guy that you don't find on the East coast. I thought this book would be about that difference. But after about 4 stories, all these men start to sound the same-- and no different from the wrong men anywhere. Charming, evasive, manipulative, self-centered. So it turns out Houston isn't writing about cowboys--guys who are truly passionate about the outdoor life and adventure. This book, it turns out, is about the wrong guy, over and over! And I find that boring.

Also-- I don't know, maybe it's the guys Pam Houston knows.... but in my experience, many "bad boys" have a sensitive, decent side to them... which comes through in a pinch. The guys in these stories, are just totally stereotypical immature womanizers through and through, and that doesn't really ring true to me. I also found myself getting impatient with the narrator, who seems very similar in each story. Initially, she seems independent and gutsy, but soon you notice that her complete energy and thought is taken up with "the care and feeding of the man." And in many stories, she is a victim. Does she really love adventure, or is she just trying to keep up with these men and be what they want her to be?

The stories are really well written and the premise intriguing, but don't think this book offers an accurate depiction of either cowboys or the women who are attracted to them. It's really about a woman who needs to figure out why she wants to hang around men who are not trustworthy or respectful of her.