Author: Glendon Swarthout
Genre: Western
Rating: 4.5/5
J.B. Books, a rather famous shootist (gunman), is dying of prostate cancer as he rides into El Paso, January 1901. After settling in at a boarding house, he confirms with the local doctor that he does indeed have cancer, and yes, it is terminal. He has weeks to live. The people around him regard him with a mixture of fascination, awe, and horror, though no one knows much about him other than what they have read in the papers. The local marshal and certain businessmen trickle in to see him once they catch wind of his upcoming demise, each wanting something from Books (though it's all disguised as "freebies" or complimentary services at first.) All the while, Books is dealing with the inner turmoil of knowing his life is about to end. He wonders how he could have lived life differently. He feels alone. When the pain begins to overwhelm him, he considers dying on his own terms rather than going out screaming in pain.
This book is definitely outside of my "regular" genre preferences (I prefer dystopian, sci-fi, urban fantasy, and historical fiction), but it ended up being a good palate cleanser. It's certainly not a bright and cheery book. Books is definitely dying - no miracle cures here. It's an interesting look at how someone might feel during their last days. And it's also an interesting look at cancer and how people had to deal with it before modern medicine. Horrifying.
One enjoyable aspect of this book is that Books turned things around on the people who were trying to take advantage of him and his death. They came offering free services, but Books knew they would be selling his items and hair like wild greedy fools. So he had people paying HIM to do things for him, with the plan of giving the money to his landlady. His relationship with her and her son was a wonderful element to the story as well. <spoiler> She started out hating him like everyone else, but they were genuine friends by the end of the story. </spoiler>
I probably won't be running to buy a lot more western novels, but this was a good book, truly. It's famous for a few reasons, one of which is because John Wayne's last movie was based off this book. I knew that going in, and it's like the book was written for him. He had such a grumpy, "take no nonsense" attitude that fits perfectly with the main character of this book. Westerns tend to feel all the same to me, and this book is not really an exception. But it definitely has some interesting themes and was enjoyable overall.
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