Last Go Round: A Real Western [Hardcover]

Ken Kesey (Author), Ken Babbs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1994

Summoning up the bare bones of Oregon lore, a rip-snorting tale of the true Old West pits three good friends against one another for the World Championship Broncbusting title during the first Pendleton Round-Up of 1911. 50,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The year is 1911, the occasion is the Pendleton, Oregon, Round-Up, and the cast of characters in Kesey's weak new novel (after Sailor Song ) mixes historical and imagined personages in a manner less reminiscent of E. L. Doctorow than of Jack Higgins. In this homage to a vanished genre of pulp fiction, young Tennessean Jonathan E. Lee Spain is on his way to Pendleton with his trusty horse, Stonewall, when he meets Jackson Sundown, a Nez Perce of few words, and George Fletcher, a dapper and wildly talented black cowboy. Sundown and Fletcher are the world's top bronc-riders; falling in with them, Spain is given a view of life on the rodeo circuit as experienced by its most talented but ultimately disenfranchised participants. A heavy-drinking Buffalo Bill Cody and his evil sidekick Frank Gotch, the world-champion wrestler whose body and mind mysteriously ran amok after a trip to Mexico, are the story's chief villains, but con men and cheats are not hard to come by in the high-stakes world of show-biz rodeo. Told via flashback by a much older and wiser Spain, who has since lost a hand in the ring, Kesey's tale portrays rodeo as a show mounted at the cost of both human and animal life. But in the end, his overall comic treatment of this and other tragic themes does not ring true. Despite a wealth of historical information, this latest from the Merry Prankster and his collaborator Babbs ( On the Bus ) is a hodgepodge affair, ill-conceived and poorly crafted. But the 16-page photo insert, featuring the novel's real-life players, might be enough to draw aficionados to the book.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The genesis of Kesey's latest effort lies in a campfire story, told to him by his father, about the 1911 Pendleton (Oregon) Round-up and the crowning of the "first" world champion "broncbuster," Jonathan E. Lee Spain. Whether Spain actually deserved to win was the subject of some controversy. His chief rivals were a Nez Perce Indian and an African American, both of whom gave memorable performances, but who apparently were not, in the minds of some, "suitable" exemplars of the cowboy myth. The fuzziness of the acutal historical record allows Kesey and Babbs "to conjure our three spectral riders out of the old tall tales" and to present the event from the perspective of Spain as he comes head to head with questions of race, power, and values. Their story is full of memorable characters and entertains in a way that should appeal to a much broader audience than most of Kesey's recent work. This vintage Kesey-his best effort since Sometimes a Great Notion (1964)-will likely engender much interest. A worthy addition to any academic, public, or even high school library.
--David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1ST edition (July 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670848832
• ISBN-13: 978-0670848836
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,309,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ken Kesey was born in Colorado in 1935. He founded the Merry Pranksters in the sixties and became a cult hero, a phenomenon documented by Tom Wolfe in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. He died in 2001.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's History got to do with it?, April 22, 2003

By 

C. Moore-Whitney "pawcamvt" (VT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Go Round: A Real Western (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a complete and perfect, factual, historical and deathly boring scholarly tome on the first big Pendleton rodeo, this isn't it. What this is, is a great little book that tells a great yarn about some people who may or may not have any resemblance to people that may or may not have been in Pendleton, OR around the time that this book is set.
The characters are vivid and the relationship between them is both ribald & enlightening. The young Spain comes up against the elder Jackson & Fletcher. They show him around their world, a world that they have made a niche in for themselves in, and Spain comes out the other side older & wiser. Kesey points out many of the injustices that faced the Indians and Afro Americans in the new west. Spain learns about strength, weakness and right and wrong is an age where they are still working out what these things mean.
Kesey shows some of the great mastery of language that made him a hero to many readers with Sometimes a Great Notion. There are sections of this book that are as good as any he ever wrote. (As Spain is nodding off to sleep in Jackson's teepee he watches the smoke curl toward the roof, turn into snakes and then into tiny delicate horses he doesn't want to scare away.)
This is a great read. Apparently there are people who have an issue with Kesey for taking people out of history and creating a story from their legends, and having a different interpretation form the accepted legend. Kesey was a storyteller, not a historian. There are great pictures of the real people whose story Kesey has attempted to fictionalize. If you want a fun and light book from a master storyteller, this is a good choice. Don't get hung up with facts, enjoy yourself and buy this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Kesey's best, but worthwhile all the same, July 26, 2003

By 

J. Remington "John Remington" (Adams, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Go Round: A Real Western (Paperback)

During an interview on Bravo TV's excellent series INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO, Dennis Hopper (an artistic, historical and spiritual brother of Ken Kesey) shared a brilliant anecdote illustrating the nature of art. While teaching a lesson on painting, Thomas Hart Benton told Dennis Hopper to "Think loose and paint tight".

The late Ken Kesey's unique literary gifts and contributions lay in his incredible ability to "think loose and write tightly."

In both of his great works, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST and SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION, as well as some of his journalistic writing, Kesey brilliantly channeled magnificent, electric, free-floating, randomly abstract and stream of conscious ideas into tight, elegant sentences. Kesey forged the missing link between the spontaneous prose of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs and the Beats with the laser-like precision of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

While LAST GO ROUND certainly makes for a fast and fun read, it does not represent his finest work. Attempting to write a combination camp fire story/dime store novel Kesey allows himself to invert his precious balance.

Thinking tightly in the surprisingly demanding genre bounds of oral history and pulp, Kesey simply tries too hard. LAST GO ROUND lacks the spontaneous element of creation that courses throughout all his greatest work. Creatively he appears to be straining and reaching for ideas that should come easily.

While the creativity seems pushed, the writing itself appears unpolished and unfocused, relatively devoid of the razor sharp perceptions that one expects from a great author.

Ultimately though, this is really a small matter. Based on a historical event- The first Pendleton Round-Up (based in my hometown), Kesey does infuse his narrative with rich local color and texture. Having met the real George Fletcher when he was aged and in a nursing home, the story also has strong personal connections for me. That, and my personally autographed copy of the book from the late Kesey makes LAST GO ROUND a valued sentimental possession.

Not a classic by any stretch, but certainly worth reading. Especially for fans of Kesey.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a dime western, not a history book!, March 30, 2001

By 

Steve Premo (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Go Round: A Real Western (Paperback)

I must take issue with Pati Reitenour's complaint that the book was not historically accurate. I'm sure that's true, but that is why it is a "dime western." It is in the tradition of western adventure books published in the 19th century which would take real characters and weave a tall tale from a thread of truth. The point is entertainment, which this book delivers.