Noble Outlaw [Paperback]

Matthew braun (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 1981

Son of a Preacher. Master of the gun. A deadly enemy.

John Wesley Hardin's powderkeg temper earned him twelve bodies by age twenty, and a place at the top of the Texas most-wanted list. But now he's a husband and a father, and thinks his fighting days are done--until he's ambushed by an angry loser in a local poker game.

Soon the law is on Wes' trail again, but this time he's got too much at stake. Hardin only wants peace--but he's willing to wage a one-man war to stay free.

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Matt Braun has a genius for taking real characters out of the Old West and giving them flesh-and-blood immediacy."--Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

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

About the Author

Matt Braun is a fourth-generation Westerner, steeped in the tradition and lore of the frontier era. His books reflect a heritage rich with the truths of that bygone time. Raised among the Cherokee and Osage tribes, Braun learned their traditions and culture, and their philosophy became the foundation of his own beliefs. Like his ancestors, he has spent most of his life wandering the mountains and plains of the West. His heritage and his contribution to Western literature resulted in his appointment by the Governor of Oklahoma as a Territorial Marshal.

Braun is the author of more than forty novels and four nonfiction works, including Black Fox, which was made into a CBS miniseries, and One Last Town, which was made into a TNT movie called You Know My Name. Western Writers of America awarded Braun the prestigious Golden Spur Award for The Kincaids. He is also the recipient of the Cowboy Spirit Award and was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1999.

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

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket (April 3, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671438050
• ISBN-13: 978-0671438050
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,350,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tall Texas Tale, August 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Noble Outlaw (Mass Market Paperback)

Overall, I enjoyed Braun's Noble Outlaw. It was very well-written, and Braun managed to transform a thug with a nasty temper into a sympathetic and misunderstood Texas hero. Though I'm not so sure the men Wes Hardin killed would appreciate the author's skill, I enjoyed the book and intend to read more of Mr. Braun's work. I would, however, be careful and not use the term "Historical Fiction" too loosely, for according to my history books, Wes Hardin was no hero.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NOBLE OUTLAW-------MAYBE, MAYBE NOT!!!!!!!, August 31, 2001

By 

Mac Blair "Mac Blair" (Huntingdon, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Noble Outlaw (Mass Market Paperback)

A fair book. It is about the life and times of John Wesley Hardin. Please read it with a grain of salt. Mr. Hardin was not the hero he appears to be in the book. Some is fact but lot is fiction. He kills his first man at age 15, I think, then is really on the run from then on. He is quick with a gun and very good with a shotgun. He finally gets married and has two children. As usual, he is caught and pays the price, as set out by a judge and jury. Lots of shooting, lots of western clans involved. I am sure true to life at that time. Just don't believe he was as good as book leds one to believe.

3.0 out of 5 stars Rainbow Pictorial of a Historically Grim and Psychotic Killer, July 26, 2010

By 

Kenneth Mark Hoover "opinionated book worm" (Allen, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Noble Outlaw (Mass Market Paperback)

Noble Outlaw by Matt Braun is another well-written, and stupefyingly historically inaccurate, portrait of the gunman John Wesley Hardin.

The title of the novel gives you some sense of the whitewashing of history regarding this cold-blooded killer that Braun embarks upon. Braun is a very good writer. Frankly, there are few better working the field, imo, aside from Gorman and Estleman. But Braun has a tendency to "Hollywood-ize" his novels in such a way that not only divorces them from reality, they make us question our own knowledge of historical fact. And, to be fair, when you fictionalize history you do have to sometimes cut corners, invent dialog, compress time, and do other things that might not jibe with the facts. As a professional writer myself I get that. It's understandable.

But in this novel John Wesley Hardin is little more than a misunderstood patriot gunning down lawmen who want to capture him. That's all. He's actually a pretty nice fella, to hear Braun tell it. Loves his wife and kids, loves his freedom. If only those dastardly carpetbaggers and Texas Rangers would just leave him alone.

Of course, historical fact and verifiable evidence paints a much grimmer picture of Hardin. We know exactly the kind of man he was, the guns he wore and how he wore them, Braun's rainbow pictorial notwithstanding. However, even with all that, this is a very good novel. I do highly recommend it.

Just be aware you are reading fiction.

A LOT of fiction.