Movie Review: For a Few Dollars More

Monco and Colonel Mortimer share a quiet moment.

Movie Review: For a Few Dollars More (1965) directed by Sergio Leone It is a time when life is cheap, but death can be lucrative, and bounty killers have come to the land. One such killer is referred to as “Monco” (Clint Eastwood) because of his preference for doing things left-handed. Another is Colonel Douglas Mortimer… Continue reading Movie Review: For a Few Dollars More

Book Review: The Heritage of the Desert

Book Review: The Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey John “Jack” Hare may be dying, but he can’t stop noticing how beautiful the sky is here in the Utah Territory desert. Jack’s a “lunger,” sent out West for his health. It helped a bit, but his money ran out and he needed a job.… Continue reading Book Review: The Heritage of the Desert

Movie Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Tuco and Blondie witness the waste of war.

Movie Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) directed by Sergio Leone Our title characters are introduced in reverse order. The Ugly, Tuco (Eli Wallach), is an outlaw with a price on his head, guilty of a long list of crimes that have more than earned him a hanging. He’s a survivor who’s always… Continue reading Movie Review: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Movie Review: A Fistful of Dollars

Time for the showdown!

Movie Review: A Fistful of Dollars (1964) directed by Sergio Leone San Miguel, a village near the Rio Bravo in northeast Mexico, is an unhappy place. There are more widows than wives, and the only man making an honest living is Piripero the coffin maker (Joseph Egger). The trouble is that there is not just one… Continue reading Movie Review: A Fistful of Dollars

Book Review: The Wanderer and the New West

Book Review: The Wanderer and the New West by Adam Bender Disclaimer: I received a download of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway to facilitate this review.  No other compensation was requested or offered. Fifty years ago, the Born-Again Patriots party was a rising independent political party with a platform of libertarianism and isolationism.  About… Continue reading Book Review: The Wanderer and the New West

Book Review: The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard

Book Review: The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard by Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (1925-2013) started his career as a professional writer by producing short Western stories for the pulp magazines.  According to the introduction, Mr. Leonard’s first attempt was not very good and was rejected, whereupon he decided that next time he… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard

Book Review: Black Hat Jack

Book Review: Black Hat Jack by Joe R. Lansdale Nat Love is better known to some as “Deadwood Dick” as he did some fancy shooting in Deadwood, and “Deadwood Nat” just sounds wrong.  Nat was a ex-slave, a gunslinger, a soldier, a cowboy and all-round troublemaker.  You may have seen those “dime novels” with his… Continue reading Book Review: Black Hat Jack

Book Review: The Quick and the Dead

Book Review: The Quick and the Dead by Louis L’Amour When Duncan McKaskel and his wife Susanna decided to move out West with their young son Tom to homestead, they knew there would be dangers and difficulties.  But after their wagon train falls to cholera and the family strikes out on its own, they learn that… Continue reading Book Review: The Quick and the Dead