Customer Reviews

Wanted Man: The Forgotten Story of an American Outlaw

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In her beautifully written book, WANTED MAN, Tamsin Spargo has closed the century-old gap between forgotten outlaw Oliver Curtis Perry of Victorian-era New York and today. Through her sensitive yet objective and historically accurate telling of the life of this train robber, the author has raised a unique figure from the dead. Oliver Curtis Perry was a host of contradictions and grappled with his own powerful demons. Perry was mysterious, handsome, manipulative, highly intelligent, articulate but uneducated, romantic -- a 19th Century Robinhood or simple crook? Thoroughly researched and passionately executed, this truly intimate portrait of a life gone horribly wrong but a spirit still unbroken left me wanting more. A movie perhaps? The story would translate well to film.

The book is nicely presented with a large number of illustrations and is very readable. However I decided to give the book only one star because it lacks any academic value. The structure of the book has several serious flaws and omissions namely there is no list of illustrations, no list of references (even those within the text are scant), bibliography or index! Considering that the book is written by an academic and Director of School at a University I was shocked that this was considered acceptable for a historical biography! The life story of Oliver Curtis Perry is certainly one worth telling and the author is very enthusiastic but without stating references etc, that is all she is doing and the book descends rapidly into what may as well be a fictionalized biography, who could tell? I found the lack of structure highly irritating, possibly because the book had the potential be really good with a very broad appeal.