DEADWOOD, DAKOTA TERRITORIES, 1876: Legendary gunman Wild Bill Hickcock and his friend Charlie Utter have come to the Black Hills town of Deadwood fresh from Cheyenne, fleeing an ungrateful populace. Bill, aging and sick but still able to best any man in a fair gunfight, just wants to be left alone to drink and play cards. But in this town of played-out miners, bounty hunters, upstairs girls, Chinese immigrants, and various other entrepeneurs and miscreants, he finds himself pursued by a vicious sheriff, a perverse whore man bent on revenge, and a besotted Calamity Jane. Fueled by liquor, sex, and violence, this is the real wild west, unlike anything portrayed in the dime novels that first told its story.
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
In 1876 William "[Buffalo] Bill" [Hickok] and Charley Utter rode into Deadwood, a hellish frontier settlement in the Black Hills. Bill died there, victim of a possibly demented assassin. Fortunately, this is mostly the story of his constant companion, Charley, a man of sapient insight and, though less famous than his friend, of extensive and varied experience. Charley, Bill, their acquaintance the Bottle Fiend, and later Bill's widow Agnes and mourner Calamity Jane saw some remarkable things in Deadwood and raised considerable Cain. By turns heroic, ludicrous, vicious, pathetic, and infuriating, the exotic citizens of Deadwood grab the reader's interest immediately and never let go. Highly recommended for its deadpan, offbeat, credible frontier anarchy. Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army TRALINET Ctr., Fort Monroe, Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“If you want to call Deadwood a Western, you might as well call The House of Mirth chick lit. Dexter looked at the dark, twisted, ridiculous doings of Bill Hickok and company, said to himself, ‘I recognize that!’ and gave us a world-class entertainment.” —Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections
“Unpredictable, hyperbolic and, page after page, uproarious; a joshing book written in high spirits and a raw appreciation of the past.” --The New York Times Book Review
“Splendid. . . . Rumor put straight. . . . A carefully researched knitting of events into their most dazzling fabric.” --The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Deadwood may well be the best western ever written.” —The Washington Post Book World
"What deepens and darkens [Dexter's] writing, so that art is the precise word to describe it, is a powerful understanding that character rules, that we live with our weaknesses and die of our strengths." --Time
"Dexter is a master of colloquial poetry, of moods revealed through gestures and settings." --Playboy
"One of the greatest American writers... a storyteller who cuts straight to the nerve." --Scott L. Turow
"Dexter's strongest suit is his exquisite understanding of the finely meshed engines of greed, appetite, and interest." --The New York Times Book Review
"Great, eccentric characters....Dexter's writing is a living thing." --USA Today
“Unpredictable, hyperbolic and, page after page, uproarious; a joshing book written in high spirits and a raw appreciation of the past.” --The New York Times Book Review
“Splendid. . . . Rumor put straight. . . . A carefully researched knitting of events into their most dazzling fabric.” --The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Deadwood may well be the best western ever written.” —The Washington Post Book World
"What deepens and darkens [Dexter's] writing, so that art is the precise word to describe it, is a powerful understanding that character rules, that we live with our weaknesses and die of our strengths." --Time
"Dexter is a master of colloquial poetry, of moods revealed through gestures and settings." --Playboy
"One of the greatest American writers... a storyteller who cuts straight to the nerve." --Scott L. Turow
"Dexter's strongest suit is his exquisite understanding of the finely meshed engines of greed, appetite, and interest." --The New York Times Book Review
"Great, eccentric characters....Dexter's writing is a living thing." --USA Today
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pin Drop,
This review is from: Deadwood (Paperback)
... How come the Wild West is so ...calm in this novel, you ask? Simple. Dexter chooses Charlie Utter as the central character, Bill Hickok's stoic, aloof partner, and it is he and his restrained wit that serves as backbone to this wonderful novel.
The book is split into four parts: Bill, The China Doll (a beautiful Chinese ..), Agnes (Lake, Bill's wife), and Jane (Calamity). Bill is gone by the end of his section, which surprised me because I thought this book was about Wild Bill. It is and it isn't. He isn't physically around after the first part, but his legend is everywhere, and it runs through the book. I've read Paris Trout and Brotherly Love from Pete Dexter before, and enjoyed this one the most, for it is the funniest. Sometimes it's ha-ha funny; other times it's more reflective. It's a fine book, one that makes me wish Dexter will go back to novel writing soon.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deadwood,
By
This review is from: Deadwood (Paperback)
Pete Dexter's Deadwood hews closely to historical reality. The characters are there from the well-known Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane Cannary to the lesser known but vital Charlie Utter, Hickok's widow, Agnes Lake, the China Doll, and a host of others. The events are there from the murder of Hickok to the great Deadwood fire. Are the characters drawn accurately? It seems so - certainly more accurately than the HBO series of the same name (You won't find HBO's Al Swearengen in Dexter's pages).
Much of the book is taken up with tortured internal dialogues, especially of Hitchcock's buddy Charlie Utter. Many of the characters are at least half insane and in poor Jane's case, well over half. Cruelty is the rule not the exception. Dexter's `Deadwood' is an unhappy place. By the way, according to a story from the Rapid City Journal newspaper posted on the web page `Deadwood Discovered, the HBO series is not based on Dexter's book and Dexter says he does not watch the show - his loss in my opinion. Highly recommended.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pete Dexter's Best?,
This review is from: Deadwood (Paperback)
If you're a fan of Pete Dexter you've no doubt read everything the man has written. However, if you are unfamiliar with this superb writer and in dire need of something with more substance than your average N.Y Times bestseller list fare, please jump in. Regardless of whether you're a "western" aficinado or not this is a stunning work. Mr. Dexter's abilities with language and character place him in the highest echelon of current authors. If someone (Mr. D.?) could lovingly transcribe this into a multi-part television movie a la "Lonesome Dove" I could die happy.
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