Customer Reviews

Gunman's Rhapsody

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Gunman's Rhapsody, I was pleased to find, is up to Parker's usual page-turning standards.

It's a fictional retelling of the Wyatt Earp saga "with the full weight of American history behind it," according to the publisher. If that be so, then Kevin Costner's recent film portrayal of Earp is closer to history than the earlier versions by Burt Lancaster and Henry Fonda.

And Parker's insights both deepen and widen the Earp reputation. Parker's pen brings to life a host of storied characters, including Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson, friends of Wyatt and the other Earp brothers, as well as foes such as Clay Allison, John Ringo and Curley Bill Brocius.

And Parker puts real flesh on the bones of the oft-told story of the feud between Sheriff Johnny Behan and Wyatt over showgirl Josie Marcus, which led to the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral.

Josie was the love of Wyatt's life, but in hindsight one almost wonders if all the blood spilled over that romance was worth it. If for none other, it's almost reason enough just for the joy of reading Parker's retelling of this cornerstone saga of the wild and wooly old American West.

This is an appealing novel for those who would normally not read westerns.

Robert Parker has taken the well-known shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona and turned it into a well-developed, rich tale of family, honor, love, career, and the taming of the West. While many other writers have treated this material before, none have provided so much background to put the event into its proper perspective. The Earps, Doc Holliday, the Clantons, Bat Masterson, and many other Western legends come to life as real people you would recognize if you met them in a saloon. You will also learn a lot about the Earp women, both the wives and those they love. The story continues on to tell about what happened after the shoot-out.

Mr. Parker writes about these characters as though he were a contemporary, but without the exaggeration of a dime novel. In fact, the spare prose of the Spenser series here becomes stronger without the quips and irony that pervade those stories. The writing style will remind you of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, and that's intended to be a high compliment for his accomplishment here. The story also evokes many of the good qualities of The Virginian.

The story pivots around Wyatt Earp's fascination with a performer who draws his eye, Josie Marcus. Never expecting to see her again, he is startled to find her on the arm of aspiring lawman, Johnny Behan. Josie is a modern woman in many ways, drawn to the stage and Johnny for the excitement they seem to offer. She ends up being disappointed in both. For her, though, Wyatt is the real thing.

Their relationship is complicated by Josie having let Johnny move into a house her father has bought her in Tombstone, and Wyatt having lived with Mattie (Celia Ann Blaylock) for a number of years. The hurt feelings lead to a polarization in the politics in Tombstone and in Wyatt's relationship with his brother Virgil's wife, Allie.

The economic interests in the Tombstone area arrayed the ranchers against the rustlers, and the townsmen against those who wanted to raise a ruckus in town. The political interests split along North-South lines, reflecting the Civil War. Also, the cowboys tended to be southerners, and the Earps were northerners and townspeople.

The character of Wyatt Earp, as portrayed by Mr. Parker, will fascinate you. He is seen as a man of effortless, relaxed precision. He enjoys his card dealing as much as his target-shooting practice. Both a discomfort with alcohol and a preference for being in control have him constantly sipping cups of coffee to keep his vigilance sharp. He is above all a man of honor, which means sticking to his word and to his family. Many of the plot complications are a result of that honor, and you will enjoy thinking about the price that has to be paid.

Mr. Parker also does a remarkably good job of capturing the peril of being a law officer. You not only have to disarm the bad guys, some of them will come after you. If another law officer or citizen falsely accuses you, you can then have a posse chasing you. The Earps had plenty of experience with all of these problems.

My only complaint about the book relate to the Chronicle inserts that outline other events happening at the same time. There is too much of this in the book, and the significance of the events is mainly from the perspective of our time. So the effect of reading them is to take you away from the story in time and space. Unless you happen to enjoy the first ones you read, I suggest you skip over these for a more enjoyable read.

The moral choices involved in this book are interesting. How would you have decided between Mattie and Josie if you were Wyatt? If you chose Josie, how would you have handled the break-up? What promise would you have made to Josie about Johnny? If you were Josie, would you have released Wyatt from his promise?

Be a straight-shooter!

I will read anything Robert Parker writes but this was a delightful turn into a new genre. Parker has spent virtually his entire career writing mysteries about Boston and New England. In one break, years ago, he wrote Love and Glory, a heart wrenching novel about love, alcoholism, pain and endurance and one of the most moving novels I have ever read. Now he has moved in a totally different direction.

Gunman's Rhapsody is a western and a love story. The love story is a little stilted but still powerful. The western is about one of the genuine historic moments in American history, Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the OK Corral.

This is a practical no nonsense purposeful Earp who cautiously but determinedly gets his own way. It argues in essence that Wyatt fell for a woman who was living with Sheriff Behan and in stealing her he created a bitter enemy and the rest was history.

The tale is well told, interesting both as a look at the Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday and interesting as an imagining of what motivates men to kill and die in situations that on the surface seem irrational but under the surface go to the core of being human.

This is a different Robert Parker but he is still well worth reading.

In 1879 thirty-one-year-old Wyatt Earp, his spouse Mattie, several of his brothers, and their wives leave Dodge City to relocate in Tombstone. Three days pass in their new town when Wyatt sees traveling actress Josie Marcus for the first time. He cannot help but compare the vibrant, beautiful woman to his own wife. He realizes that Mattie, who was fun as an alcoholic whore, is a pathetic domestic. Wyatt did not desire Mattie long before his eyes feasted on Josie.

Josie is not only beyond Wyatt's reach, he sees her with Johnny Behan. Worse to come is when Behan introduces Josie to Wyatt as his fiancee. Johnny tells Wyatt that Pina County will probably split in two. He wants to become sheriff of the newly formed Cochise County when it is formed. He needs Wyatt to resign his current position as under sheriff so that he can accept it as a stepping stone when the split happens. Regardless of Wyatt's decision the woman and the job forces a dangerous feud to form.

Mixing history with his legendary story telling abilities, Robert B. Parker effortlessly switches genres to provide readers with a powerful tale of the old west. The exciting story line centers on Wyatt, turning him into more than just a dime store character. The plot allows the cast to appear real and the rivalry to develop without slowing down the plot for even a moment. GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY shows that Mr. Parker has the talent to become a superstar in a second genre.

Harriet Klausner

"I write," said Parker.

"I know," said Smith.

"That's the way it is," said Parker. "You're a writer, you write. You write, sometimes you finish a book. You finish a book, sometimes it gets published."

"Published don't mean it's good," said Smith.

There was no expression on Parker's face. It seemed as if part of him always lived in some quiet, distant place. He was always holding something back.

"Didn't say you had to like it," said Parker.

"Don't, much," said Smith.

"Can't be helped," said Parker.

"No," said Smith. "Guess it can't."

Being the author of a recently published mystery novel in which Tombstone's shootout at the O.K. Corral plays a small part, I am very much aware of the complex relationship between western and mystery fiction. Several leading mystery writers--Loren Estleman, Elmore Leonard, and Bill Pronzini immediately come to mind--also write western fiction. In GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY, Robert B. Parker takes on the task of writing a western. He succeeds masterfully in his effort. With echoes from his Spenser series echoing throughout his story, Parker's Wyatt Earp is a man who adheres to his own strict personal code of what he considers honor. Once he arrives in Tombstone, he finds himself falling hard for a beautiful showgirl, Josie Marcus. She's the lover of Johnny Behan, an Earp political rival, and this rivalry eventually leads to the legendary shootout. All the usual suspects--Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, and Johnny Ringo--play their parts in the story. Along the way, Parker presents his interpretation of American society at that point in history. He presents a largely lawless Tombstone split along Union/Confederate and townfolk/rancher grounds. He shows people attempting to live their lives as they best can with the values they hold. I have always enjoyed the Spenser series, and I enjoyed GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY. I continue to be amazed by Robert B. Parker's writings. He is a master working at the top of his form.

Robert Parker's novels have always focused on tough, self-sufficient characters, so the idea of the author writing something in the Western genre seems a natural fit. (Indeed, Parker's last Spenser novel, POTSHOT, is little more than a modern retelling of THE MAGNIFICANT SEVEN.) Surprisingly, GUNMAN'S RHAPSODY, a fictionalized account of the Earp-cowboy feud that occurred during the 1880s, fails. There are, I think, a number of problems: The first is Parker's insistence on patterning the novel's characters upon his previous prototypes. Thus, for example, in a bedroom conversation between Wyatt Earp and Josie Marcus, the characters spout lines that seem uncomfortably reminiscent of dialogue we have previously heard from Spenser and Susan Silverman. Second, Parker errs fundamentally, I think, in writing about Earp and his brothers. The popular culture has been more or less inundated with information about this subject over the last decade (specifically, the release of two films, Lawrence Kasdan's lengthy biopic, WYATT EARP, and George Cosmatos' less historically accurate, but more enjoyable TOMBSTONE). By choosing to write about people and themes with which we are so familiar, Parker highlights the fact that he has seemingly little that is fresh to say on the subject. This staleness even filters down to the novel's repetitive descriptive passages where we are treated, for example, to endless scenes of Wyatt drinking coffee (with both hands on the cup) or to descriptions of gunfights in which events are reduced to slow motion (leading, incidentally, to Parker's brief and shockingly banal description of the shootout near the O.K. Corral). While I applaud Parker for having the courage to try something a little different, this was, in my opinion, a failed experiment.

I was expecting a new Spenser novel. Imagine my surprise when this reserved book turned out to be a "Western!" However, knowing that I've loved all of Parker's novels, I took it home to read.

I could not (nor did I want to) put it down. I read it in one day and was sad when the end came.

I recommend this book to all readers, whether they are fans of the western genre or not.

This was a really good book. I have read a lot of books on Wyatt Earp and his travails in Tombstone. It is factually quite accurate, and this talented writer adds a great human touch by injecting into the background of his story both the use of the Josie romance (as a real motive for the Behen efforts to get Wyatt using the cowboys) and by using newpaper clippings of other world events that were going on at the same time in the world. And it will be hard to forget his almost poetic reporting of that shootout near Fremont Street on that cold October day. Robert Parker is always great at character studies and this is no exception. Virgil, Doc, Morgan, Ike, Curly Bill, Ringo, and even Bat and Allie get the bright light shone in their direction. It begins with Dodge City and ends immediately after the Vendetta Ride. Marvelous book.

That is exactly the impression you'll get after reading this book. The Earps are like the Musketeers (you know, "all for one and one for all"). The type of loyalty presented between the brothers will leave you nothing short of incredulous. Enough about that....just an interesting theme within. The book.....if you've seen "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp," you know the storyline. Regardless that, READ THE BOOK. Parker, in his storytelling genius, brings the reader inside Wyatt's head (sometimes a strange place to be). You learn of the stoicism, fearlessness, total control and, you'll even see the romantic in Wyatt. To read this book is to understand Wyatt. For that, Parker has done fans of Westerns a favor. Lets face it, Kirk Russell and Kevin Costner is not what I have in mind when I think of Wyatt Earp (although both actors played excellent parts). This book only received 4 stars if for no other reason than the public, including the reading public, has been inundated with Wyatt and his brothers. Parker does a wonderful job with the story as he does with most of his offerings. Forget those that will tell you that its JUST a regurgitation of the movie. They didn't READ the book. They just scanned it. READ it, you'll KNOW Wyatt Earp.