Advance Praise for An Accidental Cowboy "In funny, wry, poignant, and sometimes elegiac prose, Parker vividly describes the modern fate of the traditional cowboy way and of one tenderfoot's tested spirit."
---Thomas McIntyre, author of Days Afield and Dreaming the Lion
"An Accidental Cowboy is a story of survival from point-blank death to the subsequent prison of depression and finally to the Russian roulette of contemplated suicide. Far from the facade of Hollywood, Jameson Parker's bareback prose reveals the joys and struggles of a soul brought back from the brink. It's a masterfully crafted memoir that both chills and inspires."
---Chris Dorsey, Orion Multimedia, the former editor-in-chief of Sports Afield and author of The Grouse Hunter's Almanac
"A masterfully written story of a good and decent man's ascent from the hell of depression and anxiety resulting from an all too common act of violence…You may just want to meet my friend J.P. You'll find him witty, charming, talented, honorable, and brave---most of all, brave."
---Gerald McRaney
"What a ride! Jameson Parker invites us not only inside the world of the modern cowboy, but also on his very personal journey to reclaim what a bullet almost took away---not just his life, but his very soul."
---Jean Strauss, author of Beneath a Tall Tree
"Robust, self-reliant, witty, [Parker] takes to a way of life he so relishes that his pleasure in it keeps us bumping along happily at his side, hot and saddle-sore, but enchanted."
---Anne Truitt, author of Prospect: The Journey of an Artist
"Part-time cowboy? Yes, but a full-time man, and he darn sure proved that by what he wrote and the way he wrote it."
---Warner Glenn, a fourth-generation rancher, author of Eyes of Fire, and a founder of the Malpai Borderlands Group
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Readers wondering whatever happened to Jameson Parker, one half of television's Simon & Simon private detective team, will be pleased to know that he is alive and well and living in Southern California. Although, as he tells us in this splendidly written memoir, "alive and well" was a dicey proposition for a while: a few years after his series was canceled, Parker was shot, and very badly wounded, by a rather unpleasant neighbor. Physical recuperation went relatively smoothly, but the psychological healing is still progressing. Now living with his wife on a cattle ranch, and still taking on the infrequent acting role, Parker writes about his struggle frankly and with abundant good humor. Unlike many triumph-over-adversity books, which play the tragedy for all it's worth, this one doesn't even get around to telling us the specifics of the shooting incident until two-thirds into the book; until that point, the book is the story of an actor who went through a mostly unspecified, life-changing event and decided to chuck the big city for a ranch 5,000 feet above the San Joaquin Valley. It's a story about a stranger in a strange land, about a man learning an entirely new set of skills, and the colorful people he meets along the way. Thousands of actors have written memoirs, but this one is unlike all the others. It isn't the actor's celebrity that makes it fascinating, but the way he tells his story. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Jameson Parker was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a working actor for more than a quarter of a century, getting his first paying job while on suspension (girls' dorm, vodka) from Beloit College. While he has appeared in more plays than he can remember, and in numerous television and feature films (some of which he would prefer to forget), Mr. Parker is best remembered for his role as A.J. in the long-running hit series Simon & Simon. At one time or another in his life, Mr. Parker has practiced karate, boxed, played polo, swum competitively, run track and field, and skied, with the result that he now hurts in a lot of places where he shouldn't. Visit him at www.jamesonparker.com.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Heartbreaking... With false starts and apprehension, his ballad of emotional triumph mirrors the endless cattle drives or smelly horse foaling he charmingly illustrates. Peppered with inventive simile and playful self-deprecation, Cowboy is equally fulfilling. B+" -Entertainment Weekly
"A sensitive, wise, sweetly written memoir about horses, California's last cowboys and giving up the fast life. And more horses." -Psychology Today
"Splendidly written... Parker writes about his struggle frankly and with abundant good humor.... It's a story about a stranger in a strange land, about a man learning an entirely new set of skills, and the colorful people he meets along the way. Thousands of actors have written memoirs, but this one is unlike all the others. It isn't the actor's celebrity that makes it fascinating, but the way he tells his story." -Booklist (starred)
"A former television star who took to the trail extols a disappearing way of life.... Perhaps most surprising are Parker's writing chops: the language is expressive and intelligent.... Smart, disarming, and forgivably sentimental." -Kirkus Reviews
"In funny, wry, poignant, and sometimes elegiac prose, Parker vividly describes the modern fate of the traditional cowboy way and of one tenderfoot's tested spirit."
---Thomas McIntyre, author of Days Afield and Dreaming the Lion
"An Accidental Cowboy is a story of survival from point-blank death to the subsequent prison of depression and finally to the Russian roulette of contemplated suicide. Far from the facade of Hollywood, Jameson Parker's bareback prose reveals the joys and struggles of a soul brought back from the brink. It's a masterfully crafted memoir that both chills and inspires."
---Chris Dorsey, Orion Multimedia, the former editor-in-chief of Sports Afield and author of The Grouse Hunter's Almanac
"A masterfully written story of a good and decent man's ascent from the hell of depression and anxiety resulting from an all too common act of violence...You may just want to meet my friend J.P. You'll find him witty, charming, talented, honorable, and brave---most of all, brave."
---Gerald McRaney
"What a ride! Jameson Parker invites us not only inside the world of the modern cowboy, but also on his very personal journey to reclaim what a bullet almost took away---not just his life, but his very soul."
---Jean Strauss, author of Beneath a Tall Tree
"Robust, self-reliant, witty, [Parker] takes to a way of life he so relishes that his pleasure in it keeps us bumping along happily at his side, hot and saddle-sore, but enchanted."
---Anne Truitt, author of Prospect: The Journey of an Artist
"Part-time cowboy? Yes, but a full-time man, and he darn sure proved that by what he wrote and the way he wrote it."
---Warner Glenn, a fourth-generation rancher, author of Eyes of Fire, and a founder of the Malpai Borderlands Group
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
Advance Praise for An Accidental Cowboy
"In funny, wry, poignant, and sometimes elegiac prose, Parker vividly describes the modern fate of the traditional cowboy way and of one tenderfoot's tested spirit."
---Thomas McIntyre, author of Days Afield and Dreaming the Lion
"An Accidental Cowboy is a story of survival from point-blank death to the subsequent prison of depression and finally to the Russian roulette of contemplated suicide. Far from the facade of Hollywood, Jameson Parker's bareback prose reveals the joys and struggles of a soul brought back from the brink. It's a masterfully crafted memoir that both chills and inspires."
---Chris Dorsey, Orion Multimedia, the former editor-in-chief of Sports Afield and author of The Grouse Hunter's Almanac
"A masterfully written story of a good and decent man's ascent from the hell of depression and anxiety resulting from an all too common act of violence...You may just want to meet my friend J.P. You'll find him witty, charming, talented, honorable, and brave---most of all, brave."
---Gerald McRaney
"What a ride! Jameson Parker invites us not only inside the world of the modern cowboy, but also on his very personal journey to reclaim what a bullet almost took away---not just his life, but his very soul."
---Jean Strauss, author of Beneath a Tall Tree
"Robust, self-reliant, witty, [Parker] takes to a way of life he so relishes that his pleasure in it keeps us bumping along happily at his side, hot and saddle-sore, but enchanted."
---Anne Truitt, author of Prospect: The Journey of an Artist
"Part-time cowboy? Yes, but a full-time man, and he darn sure proved that by what he wrote and the way he wrote it."
---Warner Glenn, a fourth-generation rancher, author of Eyes of Fire, and a founder of the Malpai Borderlands Group
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
![An Accidental Cowboy by [Jameson Parker]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/418MdZTKCKL._SY346_.jpg)
