Gunsights [Paperback]

Elmore Leonard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1979

An Arizona land war draws a carnival of reporters, photographers, and spectators. Meanwhile, Brendan Early and Dana Moon—fierce frontier gunfighters and feuding best friends—find themselves on opposite sides of a deadly serious fight. Two tough characters are backed into a corner, maybe for the last time.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

ELMORE LEONARD is the author of Bandits, Touch, Freaky Deaky, Killshot, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, Rum Punch, Pronto, Riding the Rap, Out of Sight, Cuba Libre, and other works—all national bestsellers and critical successes. In 1992, the Mystery Writers of America gave Leonard the Grand Master Award. Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown (based on Rum Punch) were Hollywood blockbusters; Maximum Bob was an ABC-TV miniseries. He lives in Bloomfield, Michigan. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books; First Edition edition (1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553128884
• ISBN-13: 978-0553128888
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,598,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elmore Leonard has written more than forty novels, including bestsellers Up in Honey's Room, The Hot Kid, Mr. Paradise, Tishomingo Blues, Pagan Babies, and Glitz. Many of his books have been made into movies, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight. He lives with his wife, Christine, in Bloomfield Village, Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't get the drop on Elmore Leonard out West..., September 21, 2004

By 

E. S Winskill (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gunsights (Mass Market Paperback)

I have a problem. I came to the Western recently, sort of as an accident after getting involved in single-action revolver shooting. I started with L'Amour, as perhaps most newcomers do, because he's so well known and has so many titles out there. I read a few; they're good, solid 3-star books. Then a friend says: "Elmore Leonard wrote mysteries. Read them. Start with Valdez is Coming". So I did, then with Hombre, and now with Gunsights.
Gunsights is a "land war" Western with several twists; it's really a buddy story where the pals, tough gunfighters of different temperaments who've been through a lot together, end up on opposite sides of the war later on in their careers. They work it out.
The narrative shifts points of view and provides the backstory in flashbacks during the main thread of the tale; this is handled very well by Leonard, as is his use of newspapermen covering the "war"; which gives a "late West" flavor that lends a sense of irony sometimes. The narrative structure is very different than "Valdez is Coming" or "Hombre", but is very effective.
But Leonard's genius is in the way he lets the story speak through the characters' words and actions. He eschews all of the internal soliloquies in the protagonists thoughts that are usually only an author's way of making heavy-handed points. This seems uncommon in this genre. He lacks utterly the unrealistic sentimentality of L'Amour (and many other Western writers better than L'Amour, such as Elmer Kelton), and yet his stories are not dark, and often have strong moral points to make. But they are integral to the action of the story itself, which is the thing.
My problem? Where do I find someone as good in this genre when I'm done with Elmore Leonard?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once upon a time, February 10, 2009

By 

Lost In Kansas "James Corbett" (Arkansas City KS) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Bounty Hunters (Paperback)

Once upon a time in the 50's and the 60's Westerns were the story of choice for readers and writers. Many a boy devoured westerns late at night and learned to read with horses, Indians, and blazing guns as guides. All writers wrote a werstern or two to pay the bills while they worked on other books. Some writers learned to write by doing westerns. Elmore Leonard is one of those who began in westerns and some people have said he rose out of those depths to become a serious writer. Well folks they are wrong. Leonard's westerns are classics. His HOMBRE and VALDEZ IS COMING were the bases for some of the best western movies ever made. THE BOUNTY HUNTERS is Leonard's first novel according to the back cover of the book. For a first novel it doesn't have any of the teething problems that are found in most first books. No Leonard was good right out of the box. THE BOUNTY HUNTERS is a great example of what made westerns popular. Basic story of good and evil with fully developed heroes and very bad vilians. The Indians are treated fairly and are show in a realistic light. The action is straight forward and realistic. The prose is the same prose of Leonard today. No this book is a trip to another time and place in American history, those times of the 50's and 60's when things were peaceful and the only action was in books. I miss this time in American literature. So you might take a look at this and see where Leonard began and compare it to his present works. It is worth the time to read it and think about the time it was written in.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old Friends, April 18, 2003

By 

Max Inman (holland, mi. U.S.A) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gunsights (Mass Market Paperback)

Two old friends who used to track down killers as a team now face each other in a small war. Brendan Early leads the mining company gang v.s. Dana Moon and the gang called the people of the mountain. This is an action packed story of gunfights all the way.