Tiger on the Road: The Life of Vardis Fisher [Paperback]

Tim Woodward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1989

This is the first complete biography of one of the greatest pioneers of Western literature. Fisher was an author whose lifestyle was as colorful and unpredictable as his writing. He was often controversial, frequently infuriating, and never boring. In a career spanning four decades and thirty-six books, Fisher was a relentless prober of human evasions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

But the most significant comment to be made about Tiger on the Road is that whoever reads it will want to read Vardis Fisher. The frustrating part will be finding his books. -- Bonnie Taylor, Tri-City Herald, April 15, 1990

About the Author

Tim Woodward, like Vardis Fisher before him, is an Idaho native. Born in Boise, he gained his B.A. in Journalism from the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1971, then moved back to Boise where he began writing news at the Idaho Statesman in 1975 and has since published three books, all collections of his columns, Shirttail Journalist, McCracker Takes A Vacation, and Here in Curmudgeon's Corner (Fenwick Books).

Woodward became interested in learning more about Fisher's life during a visit to Idaho's Antelope country in southeast Idaho, the setting for most of Fisher's first books. Returning home he discovered there were no true Fisher biographies and began working on Tiger on the Road. The book took four years of Woodward's spare time to complete.

Product Details

• Paperback: 269 pages
• Publisher: Caxton Printers Ltd (December 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870043331
• ISBN-13: 978-0870043338
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,018,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly presented literary biography, February 11, 2002

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tiger on the Road: The Life of Vardis Fisher (Paperback)

Tiger On The Road: The Story Of Vardis Fisher is the biography of 1930s American author Vardis Fisher -- an erudite, accomplished, and today largely unknown contributor to great American literature. Once known as the "dean of Western novelists", Fisher is a superb novelist whose works have unfortunately been neglected too much and for too long. Illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs, Tiger On The Road is an excellent look into fascinating life and literature. The author of thirty six published works, it can confidently be expected that this outstanding biography of a Rocky Mountain regional author will inspire a resurgence of interest in his timeless, extraordinary, iconoclastic work. His life was as vivid and as dramatic as the plots of his novels. Tiger On The Road is a superbly presented literary biography.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Great American, November 28, 2004

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Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Tiger on the Road: The Life of Vardis Fisher (Paperback)

Vardis Fisher exemplified the spirit of individualism, the rugged West, a largely self-taught education and, most importantly, an almost peculiarly Americanism that has almost vanished. This is a good biography that gives as much (if not more) attention to the literary words as it does the strictly biographical aspects.

Fisher is famous for his Western novels, in particular his rather sympathetic book on the Mormons. He remained an atheist to the end and was convinced after a lifetime of study and reflection that modern society is a consequences of our evolutionary psychology and that forces we consider paramount - love, sex, death, religion, family - have their roots in our pre-human past.
Thus the rise of certain taboos, myths and belief systems.

His epic series, THE TESTAMENT OF MAN, followed our evolutionary climb from cave man to modern creature. And since it challenged some basic tenets of Judeo-Christian beliefs it was attacked and in essence, censored from the public forum. This is not only a good book but an important one.