Mojave Crossing [Paperback]

Louis L'Amour (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1989)
• ASIN: B0010J1UDQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sackett gets himself in a heap of trouble helping a girl, November 8, 2003

By 

Richard J. Brzostek (New England, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mojave Crossing: The Sacketts: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

"Mojave Crossing" by Louis L'Amour is part of the "Sacketts" series. It is told in the first person narrative and contains almost non-stop action. The reader is brought into the "Old West" in this historic fiction novel.

Tell Sacket was heading toward Los Angeles when he meets a black-eyed woman that seemed to be pursued by a gang of men. She is an excellent characterization of a woman that uses her looks to manipulate men in the business of temptation. Hesitantly, he agrees to take her with him, which gets him tangled in a heap of trouble.

The vivid description of what the West was like includes the way they talked, dressed, and the landscape itself. The reader also learns about deserts and practical tips on how to survive in them. You can read this in order as part of the Sackett series, or only this single volume. Either way, it is sure to be an enjoyable and entertaining reading adventure.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a great look at life in the 1800s., November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mojave Crossing: The Sacketts: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

"Mojave Crossing" by Louis L'Amour is about a man Tell Sackett who crosses the Mojave desert which really got me interested in the book. This western novel from beginning of the book to the end had nonstop action. I have read many Louis L'Amour novels and this along with "Flint" are my favorite. L'Amour is a a very consistant writer and I am sure that once you read one you can't stop.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A JOURNEY THROUGH THE MOJAVE DESERT TO LOS ANGELES, June 4, 2009

By 

Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mojave Crossing (Paperback)

This July, 1964, western novel transports the reader to the years 1875-1879 with a trip through the Mojave desert into Los Angeles, California. The route Tell Sackett takes out of Hardyville, Arizona Territory, leads him to Piute Wash and Rock Spring, then south to Black Canyon, then south to Granite Well, then southwest to Willow Spring and the Sheep Hole Mountains, with a side trip to Hidden Valley, then into Los Angeles (or "the Pueblo" as it was then known).

Once there he stays at Pico House, an 1870 style, 3 story high, blue granite hotel on the corner of Main and Plaza. Along the way Tell meets up with Nolan Sackett and till book's end, though they are related cousins from Tennessee, seem to be on opposite sides. This book doesn't show Nolan at his best until he decides to side with his cousin.

Louis L'Amour also gives us much collateral information along the way such as the place known as La Nopalera or as 'The Catus Patch' area being today's Hollywood, and Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas being modern day Beverly Hills. Rodeo drive did originally see many rodeos in its area. He also mentions the town of San Bernardino as originally being a Mormon town, and interestingly Big Horn Sheep are not sheep at all, but in the deer family.

In Tell's journey we get this guided tour of a trail to Los Angeles, meet a woman who could be called a witch, seek to recapture stolen gold from Tell, and discover gold from a retired pirate, and meet several down right mean and ornery killers. In several scenes the past comes unexpectedly rushing back to haunt William Tell Sackett in both people and locale.

This book once listed as number 6 in the Sackett series, is now listed in THE SACKETT COMPANION: A PERSONAL GUIDE TO THE SACKETT NOVELS by Louis as number 9. If a reader enjoys this novel it is an apt suggestion that he or she will also be interested in THE CALIFORNIOS, another book by Louis L'Amour, though that book is not in the Sackett series. But both books show California to have been equal to any western town of the time though we do not usually consider it such today. Both books help us to realign our thinking to seeing California as rough and ready as any town of the west.

Semper Fi.