Redeye: A Western (Hardcover)

by Clyde Edgerton (Author) "I got this little bulldog mix what can whip any dog alive..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bishop Thorpe, Mumford Rock, Mesa Largo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The redoubtable Edgerton jauntily plumbs new territory in this tall-tale sixth novel (after In Memory of Junior), departing from the South that was the setting of his previous books. The wilds of southern Colorado in the 1890s are home to his cast of transplanted Carolinians, a quirky bunch whose antics have much in common with those of their brethren in Edgerton's other books. The Copeland family has come west to Mumford Rock en masse, led by P.J. (Pleasant James), a newly licensed embalmer with big ideas. His ambitions are abetted by shifty Billy Blankenship, who plans to turn the cliff dwellings at Mesa Largo into the forerunner of Disney World. Together they engage in some highly questionable commercial ventures, encountering en route an oddly matched group of Western frontiersmen, renegade Mormons, a pair of alcoholic Indians, an aristocratic young English scholar and an obsessive bounty hunter and his mixed-breed "catchdog" named Redeye. Artfully using a kaleidoscopic sequence of first-person vignettes and shifting the narrative voice among this ragtag crew, Edgerton larks along from one outrageous incident to another, beginning with a plan to explode the corpse of a dead "Chinaman" on the platform of the train depot. Lurking on the fringe is the dog-owning bounty hunter intent on wreaking vengeance on the Mormons responsible for an infamous (real) 1892 shootout with a wagon train of pioneers. By the time Redeye narrates his own version of events, we believe every word. Fun from start to finish, this tale should go on building sales right through Christmas.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Edgerton (In Memory of Junior, LJ 9/1/92) has strayed from the familiar North Carolina setting of his former novels to tell a rollicking tale of cowboys and Indians, Englishmen and maidens, all set in Colorado 100 years ago. The cliff dwellings of southwest Colorado attract a motley crew of explorers in 1892, each with a personal agenda. Abel Merriwether, a local rancher and amateur archaeologist, wants to explore and protect the site; Andrew Collier, an Englishman, wants to write about it; Billy Blankenship, a local businessman, wants to develop it for tourism; Bishop Thorpe, a Mormon saint, hopes to find proof that Jesus visited there 2000 years before; and Cobb Pittman, a drifter with a red-eyed dog, seeks revenge on Thorpe for the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1875. How this diverse bunch converges for an ill-fated tour of the site is unforgettable. A master storyteller, Edgerton proves that he is in full command of his craft no matter what the setting. For all collections.
Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib, Carbondale
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1st edition (January 4, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565120604
• ISBN-13: 978-1565120600
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,532,661 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Topnotch Light Fare, November 8, 1998

By	Bob Burton([e-mail]) (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

It must be said at the outset that "Redeye" is not only slim but lightweight, and its storyline a fragile structure indeed. Having said that, I have nothing left but praise for this book. Edgerton deftly weaves together an adventurous present in 1892 Colorado, a tragic past from 1857, and a framing text from 1915, by which time historic sites and scenic grandeur have degenerated into new ways to separate the unwary tourist from his money. He draws his characters, from the sweet and naive to the most dastardly, with a light and loving touch. He knows and appreciates his setting, and can instill this appreciation in his readers. He has worthwhile things to say on important matters--multi-ethnic society, the role of archeology, the profit motive--but makes his points without being moralistic or pedantic. And, oh yes, the man can be very funny. Edgerton knows what he's about, and has the talent and humanity do it well. An evening with "Redeye" is time well spent.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Funniest Book I've Read This Year, September 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Redeye: A Western (Paperback)

I don't know what I was expecting after I heard the author talking about this on NPR. Certainly I knew it dealt with weighty matters like massacres and history and retribution. What I was definitely not expecting was that this would be the funniest book of the year. Sneaky funny. There I was trying to take it seriously when a line like "obviously blow up a Chinaman means something different here than in Georgia" comes along. Suddenly I found myself rolling on the floor, not even remembering what I had been worried about a few hours early

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read other Clyde Edgerton, May 25, 2001

By	Katherine P. Sharp "TN Wildflower" (Woodbury, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Redeye: A Western (Paperback)

Not the best of his works. Try Raney or Walking Across Egypt to know why there are Clyde Edgerton fans who will even read Redeye: A Western. And don't ever miss an opportunity to hear him talk and tell tales.