LONELY MEN (SACKETTS) [Paperback]

LOUIS L'AMOUR (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (1985)
• ASIN: B000P1AYVE
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,917,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"I think of myself in the oral tradition--as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of a campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered--as a storyteller. A good storyteller."

It is doubtful that any author could be as at home in the world re-created in his novels as Louis Dearborn L'Amour. Not only could he physically fill the boots of the rugged characters he wrote about, but he literally "walked the land my characters walk." His personal experiences as well as his lifelong devotion to historical research combined to give Mr. L'Amour the unique knowledge and understanding of people, events, and the challenge of the American frontier that became the hallmarks of his popularity.

Of French-Irish descent, Mr. L'Amour could trace his own in North America back to the early 1600s and follow their steady progression westward, "always on the frontier." As a boy growing up in Jamestown, North Dakota, he absorbed all he could about his family's frontier heritage, including the story of his great-grandfather who was scalped by Sioux warriors.

Spurred by an eager curiosity and desire to broaden his horizons, Mr. L'Amour left home at the age of fifteen and enjoyed a wide variety of jobs, including seaman, lumberjack, elephant handler, skinner of dead cattle, and miner, and was an officer in the transportation corps during World War II. During his "yondering" days he also circled the world on a freighter, sailed a dhow on the Red Sea, was shipwrecked in the West Indies and stranded in the Mojave Desert. He won fifty-one of fifty-nine fights as a professional boxer and worked as a journalist and lecturer. He was a voracious reader and collector of rare books. His personal library contained 17,000 volumes.

Mr. L'Amour "wanted to write almost from the time I could talk." After developing a widespread following for his many frontiers and adventure stories written for fiction magazines, Mr. L'Amour published his first full length novel, Hondo, in the United States in 1953. Every one of his more than 120 books is in print; there are more than 300 million copies of his books in print worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors in modern literary history. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and more than forty-five of his novels and stories have been made into feature films and television movies.

The recipient of many great honor and awards, in 1983 Mr. L'Amour became the first novelist to ever to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in honor of his life's work. In 1984 he was also awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan.

Louis L'Amour died on June 10, 1988. His wife, Kathy, and their two children, Beau and Angelique, carry the L'Amour publishing tradition forward with new books written by the author during his lifetime to be published by Bantam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TRY L'AMOUR THINK, January 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lonely Men: The Sacketts: A Novel (Paperback)

When it comes to reading Louis L'Amour the modern western fan is faced with having to take things in context. Remember that L'Amour's works were primarily written in the fifties and sixties and, as a result, have a certain "dignity" about them that no longer applies with the westerns of today, especially those on the big screen.

Take THE LONELY MEN for example. There is plenty of action here but it is painted much more subtly on L'Amour's canvass than, let's say, on those of Larry McMurtry or on Clint Eastwood's or Kevin Costner's movie screens. Frankly L'Amour or his readers would not have tolerated the raw, often harsh violence of today's western s offerings.

L'Amour wrote with a clear sense of nostalgia and romance about the west. He was much for the kindred spirit of John Wayne and John Ford than of McMurtry, Eastwood or Costner.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE LONELY MEN, a Sackett tale of revenge, deceit and, as is the case with all L'Amour tales, of ultimate white-hatted triumph and justice. Tell Sackett is tricked into a dangerous venture in Apache-held country. He and his friends find much more than they bargain for. Read it in the correct mindset and you have a masterpiece.

Douglas McAllister

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tell Sackett rides again., November 1, 2000

By 

Robert S. Clay Jr. (St. Louis, MO., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lonely Men: The Sacketts: A Novel (Paperback)

Orrin Sackett's treacherous wife sends Tell Sackett on a false rescue mission. He and three of his drifter friends pursue the elusive Apache to save Orrin's kidnapped child.

This is a basic white men vs. Apache tale. There are plot twists the reader can easily see coming. The action is fast and violent. The writing is colorful. Tell Sackett's first person narrative rambles in places, but that adds to the Western aura. One can almost visualize Tell weaving engrossing tales to listeners around a crackling campfire. There is irony in men facing suffering and death because of loneliness and a woman's deceit. The "Lonely Men" of the title refers to the four men who band together because they have nothing else of meaning in their lives. The Apaches are portrayed as fierce killers, but also as honorable men who respect a worthy enemy.

Louis L'Amour instills new life into the familiar elements of the Western story. His novels and stories stress character and atmosphere over the routine plot elements of "a man, a horse, and a gun." As with many of his novels, this book serves the purpose of good, lightweight reading. It doesn't require in-depth analysis to get the point. Enjoy the ride. ;-)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Listen to Bryan Thomas from Connecticut, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lonely Men: The Sacketts: A Novel (Paperback)

I have read all but 4 of Mr. L'Amour's (that doesn't include his short stories) and I have to admit this is not his best book but still is earns 5 stars in my opinion. Don't listen to the Yankee from Connecticut.