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Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life
 
 
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Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life [Hardcover]

Wallace McRae (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Book Description

January 15, 2009
STICK HORSES And Other Stories of Cowboy Life
HERE ARE TRUE-LIFE STORIES about cowboys, Indians, (ranch hands, sheriffs) and the milieu of characters that populated the legendary American West. McRae tells about his heroes and also the town vagabonds who came and went through the landscape of his growing up as a ranch kid and his adult life as a third-generation Montana rancher. Both humorous and poignant, the people and events in McRae's stories portray the living Cowboy Code. Enjoyable, can't-put-it-down reading in a conversational style from one of the West's best storytellers. Don't pass this one up!
McRae's cowboy poetry collection, The Cowboy Curmudgeon, has sold more than 25,000 copies.
McRae was the subject of a feature article in Range magazine in summer 2008.
McRae has been featured on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.
McRae is one of the "stars" of the granddaddy of all cowboy poetry gatherings in Elko, Nevada. He was the keynote speaker for the Elko Gathering's tenth anniversary and has performed his poems across a wide range of venues from cultural exchanges in Australia, Scotland, England, and various settings in the United States.
McRae's reputation in the field of writing and performing cowboy poetry is unsurpassed. His poem "Reincarnation" is the most recited of contemporary cowboy poetry.
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Wallace McRae is the recipient of A National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. He was appointed to the National Endowment for the Arts Council by President Clinton. His poems have appeared in numerous poetry anthologies. He is the author of The Cowboy Curmudgeon (Gibbs Smith). He lives in Montana.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Stick horses and other stories of ranch life
Wallace McRae's reputation in the field of writing and performing cowboy poetry is legendary. His poem "Reincarnation" is the most recited of contemporary cowboy poetry and is considered a classic of the genre.

McRae is also a storyteller, and here he relates true-life stories about ranch hands, Indians, sheriffs and the milieu of characters that populated a ranching community of the legendary American West. McRae tells about his heroes and also the town vagabonds who came and went through the landscape of his growing up and growing wise through a lifetime on a Montana ranch.

This collection of tales weaves a tapestry of character sketches about people in a rather isolated, often insulated, rural community. The stories are genuine and honest, conversational and easy to read. At times humorous and poignant-and always engaging-this personal memoir from cowboy poetry's most beloved curmudgeon is a can't-put-it-down read.

Wallace McRae is a third-generation cattle rancher in southeastern Montana, and a widely acclaimed writer and performer of cowboy poetry. He was the recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and was appointed to the National Endowment for the Arts Council by President Clinton. McRae has been featured on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion and has performed across the United States and been featured in cultural exchanges in Australia, Scotland and England. McRae's poems have appeared in numerous cowboy poetry anthologies. He is the author of The Cowboy Curmudgeon and lives on the family's Rocker Six Ranch.

From the Back Cover

Nearly every morning one of us would wrangle the horses. Occasionally there was other, more compelling, work to be done, but we preferred to ride. We kept a wrangle horse 'up' by picketing him to the gatepost at the back door of our grandparents' house.

As was the case with the ones we rode, we rotated the wrangle horse. Not all members of the cavvy were fit to ride to gather the rest, however. Some were afflicted with defects-a fistula, cinch sore or wire cut. Some were packing just a bit too much of that hot Thoroughbred blood crazying them up, so using them for running in the other horses rendered them mentally unfit to ride for weeks. Some were either permanently or temporarily unsound. Some were not sufficiently broken and considered too green for the job. . . .

Our shared grandfather was the only adult on the ranch who understood, and believed, our remuda to be comprised of real horses. They most definitely were not mere stick horses. From his rocking chair on the screened porch, Grandpa would watch us wrangle. He understood what we were doing and probably didn't approve, though he never spoke of it. . . ."
-excerpted from "Stick Horses"

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Gibbs Smith (January 15, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1423605918
  • ISBN-13: 978-1423605911
  • Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,447,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Wallace McRae is a master storyteller, January 29, 2011
This review is from: Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life (Hardcover)
I purchased this book to kill some down time while on a business trip, not expecting very much I started the first story and finished the book that evening. Each story is a true gem, lovingly told by a master storyteller told with wit, love and deep emotion for all the wonderful characters.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Good Western Read, February 9, 2010
By 
Jo (Montana, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life (Hardcover)
A great look into Western ranching and the lifestyle that goes with it. Wallace McRae is a great story teller.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life. By Wallace McRae, August 28, 2009
It is difficult to be objective reviewing this attractively bound collection of short stories without some pride in the evolution of cowboy poetry since the mid-1980s, within which Wallace McRae has been a major influence and mainstay. And though there are several published collections of short stories on the genre's bookshelves, STICK HORSES will be what future collections will be measured against, in part because of his accomplished storytelling style, but also because of its authentic insight.

McRae cements his background with great characters such as "Wilkie", a Frost-like `Hired Man' with a penchant for alcohol who came and went from the ranch without the formality of ever being `hired or fired' when McRae was a boy. Whether enjoying the tender awkwardness of his relationship with Cheyenne neighbor "Albert Tallbull" or laughing through "Census" taken to extreme and ridiculous hyperbole, McRae is an excellent storyteller. And not all the stories are humorous, not all questions answered as in `Trespassing' which harkens back to much of McRae's poetry that confesses and examines certain idiosyncrasies of ranch life.

Storytelling is lost art for many obvious reasons, but these valuable antidotes tell who we are by where we've come from. These tales are full of common sense and a once common rural ethic that has been lost to most all of us with progress. And though these stories may be a window to understanding for urban academics and outsiders, a glimpse of a culture past, this collection may be more important for those still living in rural settings as McRae validates a cast of characters from a lifestyle that is truly and uniquely ours. Thank you, Wally.
- Dry Crik Review [...].

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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
toilet birds, order buyer, stick horses
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Tippy Toe, Tongue River, Bucking Horse Sale, Jack Dodd, Lay Creek, James Robinson, The Cheyennes, Jack Higham, Miles City, Emmett Boslaugh, Cheyenne Reservation, Joe Beeler, Big Country, Second World War, Fourth of July, Rosebud Creek, Bud Light, Miller Flat, Henry the Hermaphrodite, New England, Lame Deer, Main Street, Uncle Evan, Quarter Circle, Walt Evans
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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