Tom Mix and Pancho Villa [Hardcover]

Clifford Irving (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 463 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1 edition (May 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312808879
• ISBN-13: 978-0312808877
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,310,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clifford Irving is the author of 20 published books, among them New York Times best-sellers Fake!, Trial, and Final Argument. Richard Gere starred as Clifford in the movie version of Hoax, the story of Clifford's most famous book, the Autobiography of Howard Hughes, which forced the billionaire out of seclusion, caused the downfall of Richard Nixon, and earned the writer 16 months in three federal prisons.

The L.A. Times called Clifford Irving "a master," and Thomas Keneally (Schindler's List) lauded Irving's The Angel of Zin as "absolutely compelling, a totally engrossing thriller."

This February 2012, as a birthday present, his computer-savvy son, Josh, has created a unique event - 12 of Clifford's works, published and unpublished, will be available simultaneously on Kindle, at remarkably low prices. 12 for 2012.

They include Clifford's thrilling prison journal, Jailing, excerpted in Playboy but withheld in full until now;

I Remember Amnesia, a new courtroom novel set in dangerous, glitzy East Hampton; Fake!, the sophisticated true tale of the most prolific art forger of the 20th century (think forged Picasso, Modigliani, and Matisse in top museums); best-sellers Trial and Final Argument, and, of course, the amazing Autobiography of Howard Hughes, never published in the USA except by a private printing rare enough to sell in hardback for $350, when you can find one.

These are bargain-priced, can't-put-down reads by the famous writer the New York Times Book Review praised as "a born storyteller."

He now lives with his Aussie wife in the Colorado Rockies, on the edge of a forest where he cuts firewood, paints, tends his flower garden, is regularly stumped by hard sudoku puzzles, and is writing a memoir called "Around the World in 80 Years."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Classic, November 4, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tom Mix and Pancho Villa (Hardcover)

This is probably the finest relatively-unknown novel ever published in the USA. The reviews back in 1982 were stunning. (William Safire in the New York Times wrote: "Rip-snortin', rootin'-tootin' adventure"; the L.A.Herald-Examiner said, "A big, rawboned, wild-blooded adventure, a novel to make any writer proud and many readers grateful." (I copy these from the paperback book jacket.)

Young Tom Mix runs off to Mexico to join the revolution and becomes Pancho Villa's "gringo" aide. This is historical fact, although Irving -- for our benefit -- embroiders this for some 500 fabulous pages. Tom meets all kinds of people who were there, including George S. Patton, Emiliano Zapata, and Franz von Papen. It's a swashbuckling story, and who among us not wished he'd grown up as romantically as Mix does here?

The book gives the sights and sounds of a turn-of-the-century world real enough to touch. I note that another reviewer in the L.A. Times called it "a fantasy worthy of Mark Twain, a legendary tale." And the Houston Chronicle called it "a wonderful, big book." I agree. If you own a copy, you can sell it for ten times what you paid for it. If you can't find one to buy, try your library. It's GREAT.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Undiscovered gem - A classic epic western of Mexican Revolution, September 19, 2008

By 

Mark New Jersey "Mark NJ" (New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Mix and Pancho Villa (Paperback)

Incredible novel of the dying west, and the Mexican Revolution. Even more entertaining than Norman Zollinger 1995 novel - Not of War Only, which is in itself an excellent book. If possible Tom Mix & Pancho Villa is better!

The book is a grand adventure, an epic coming of age story of pre-movie star Tom Mix. It vividly captures the excitement, romance, and bloodshed of the revolution.

The portrait of Pancho Villa, brings him colorfully to life as a multi-dimensional person - as peasant, bandit, inveterate lover and serial groom, and as a leader struggling with his conscience. It is his flawed portait as a hero - a fighter and killer in search of freedom and fortune that grounds the book and brings all its characters to life.

Similiar to Oliver Stone's main character in Platoon, Mix has his good companero (Candelario Cervantes) and his evil foe clouded in darkeness -
Rudolfo Fierro to bring his story to life.


Probably the greatest western written, few people have ever read, or heard of. After Lonesome Dove, one of the best 5 or 10 best epic western novels you will read on the old west.

The action is swift, the plot wildly accurate as real events weave their way into the novel. Even a young George Patton comes to life in the second half of the book.

Mostly though - you have Mix as every man fighting, loving, struggling for survival, for enlightenment - doing his best to keep the chief (Pancho) on the straight and narrow path of a hero.

The journey is paved with obstacles, and the man's struggle between good and evil.

It just never lets up, and it will stay with you for a long time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real-life adventure ... for the reader., February 14, 2012

By 

Alexander Finlay - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tom Mix and Pancho Villa (Kindle Edition)

Only one other book compares to Irving's sprawling but intimate saga of Tom Mix and Pancho Villa. This book gave me the same feeling as The Lonesome Dove. We're back on the trail again, only this time with Tom Mix and the other followers of Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution. While the characters come colorfully alive, the story of Pancho Villa is portrayed with historical accuracy as well as gritty good humor. Memorable women play strong roles in this book, and Tom Mix is a complex person, and a great protagonist for the drama that fills this sharply written story. I didn't want it to end ... a most satisfying read.