Tentmaker [Paperback]

Clay Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 2002

When the Civil War ended, Gil Hooley journeyed out West, figuring that if there was any market left for his hand-crafted tents, it would be on the wide open frontier. But when his wagon breaks down in the middle of nowhere, a community begins to grow around him, one tent at a time, until Gil finds himself the unlikely leader-and defender-of his own town.

Larry McMurtry called his work "ambitious and absorbing," and Dee Brown acclaimed it as "superb." Now Clay Reynolds tells the tale of a man who discovers that even if a place wasn't your destination, it might still be your destiny.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Written with brio and fidelity to historical detail, Reynolds's sixth novel (after Monuments) is a rough-riding, idiosyncratic western set in the 1880s. Reynolds loves quirky characters, impossible fixes and odd plot twists, and he has packed a wagonload of each into this colorful horse opera. Gil Hooley is a St. Louis tent maker, an obscure man intent on doing as little as possible. Stranded alone with a broken wagon full of tent-making materials on the North Texas prairie, Hooley figures he will just starve and that will be the end of him-for he is nearly helpless as a pioneer. Chance encounters, however, save him from starvation only to catapult him into situations he finds increasingly perturbing. After he impulsively rescues Mino, a non-English-speaking immigrant carpenter, from the hands of a deranged marshal, he is saddled with the lawman's widow, Margot, as a business partner. Together, the three of them open a saloon and whorehouse to service the local cowboys. Smitten with Margot, Hooley makes a success of the business, but he is dogged by his misbegotten reputation as a pistolero. Meanwhile, a gang of outlaws led by fat, malodorous Jefferson Tay rob, rape, murder and burn their way across Texas, Kansas and the Oklahoma Territory until a prairie lowlife tells them about the easy pickings at the whorehouse tent city called Hoolian. During a fierce winter storm, Hooley, never one to face a challenge, must finally make a momentous decision, and the result surprises everyone but Margot. Reynolds is in top form with this graphic, galloping yarn of frontier justice.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Clay Reynolds is a native Texan, novelist, and freelance writer who also serves on the faculty of the University of Texas at Dallas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (December 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425182703
• ISBN-13: 978-0425182703
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,161,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of The Tentmaker, May 24, 2003

By 

Stacey Flowers (Gainesville, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tentmaker (Paperback)

I have been reading Clays Reynolds' works since Franklins Crossing, and find each one to be even more enjoyable than the previous. I didn't just read The Tentmaker, I devoured it. The characters are well rounded, and truly breathe with a life of their own on the pages. I found myself identifying with Gil Hooley as if I had known him all my life. I could clearly see him throwing up his hands and yelling, "WHAT?!" with every encounter he had with Margot Phillips, the red-haired Madam. And as for Margot, she is without doubt the most vexing, stubborn, irritating, alluring woman I have seen in some time. I found myself laughing out loud each time she would browbeat Hooley into doing what she wanted, and then berate him for doing it with the next breath. Hooley is a man, who through the accident of fate, ends up becoming everything he has never really wanted to be. And as a result of this, is placed in the very uncomfortable position of having to defend what he never really wanted in the first place. And through his actions, he becomes a hero, albeit, a reluctant hero. This is a well written, and extremely engaging book. Whether or not you are a fan of Western Fiction, and if you never read another book of this genre, read this book. You won't regret it.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tentmaker, February 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Tentmaker (Paperback)

This is one of best tales I've come across in years. The hapless Gil Hooley is constantly trying to find a quiet place to read and smoke his pipe, yet the camp he established quickly becomes a settlement, and is determined to grow into a town. The poor guy, everything he says comes out wrong, so he is forced into situations that could have been avoided. Clay Reynolds has created a winner, not to be missed.

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book, February 21, 2010

By 

las dance (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tentmaker (Paperback)

I read this book a few years ago, and it stayed with me for weeks. It's a tale filled with of violence and love, passion and frustration, stubborn willfulness and endless compromise, told masterfully by Reynolds. I'm going to buy a copy for my father (an avid reader of westerns) for his 87th birthday. I know he'll love it, too.

I hope a movie is made from this one. I can see the redhead madam already...