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Yondering
"Over the years I have been proud to write about the men and women of the American frontier. But I have written many stories with entirely different settings which I have long wanted to share with my readers. "I have collected some of these in YONDERING. They are glimpses of what my own life was like during the early years. Those were the rough years; often I was hungry, out of work and facing situations such as I have written about. "Although these stories take place in a variety of locales, they are stories of people living under conditions similar to the way they might have lived on the frontier. I hope you'll enjoy YONDERING."
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
171 people are currently reading
1319 people want to read
About the author
Louis L'Amour
1,009 books3,529 followersLouis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".
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February 6, 2021
Note, Feb. 5, 2021: When I read short story collections intermittently over a long period of time, my reactions are similarly written piecemeal, while they're fresh in my mind. That gives the reviews a choppy, and often repetitive, quality. Recently, I had to condense and rearrange one of these into a unified whole because of Goodreads' length limit; and I was so pleased with the result that I decided to give every one of these a similar edit! Accordingly, I've now edited this one.
Best known for his Westerns, Louis L'Amour actually wrote stories and novels set in a variety of times and places. Like his Westerns, though, many of these tend to feature strong heroes who are macho but moral (and he well understood that these aren't contradictory qualities!), and who face physical and other challenges not unlike those that might have arisen on the Western frontier. The grist for these yarns came mainly from personal experience (though he also read voraciously): after leaving home at the age of 15, driven by a desire to travel and broaden his experience, L'Amour led a strenuous, highly masculine life as a young man, which included seafaring around the world, a successful boxing career, and service as a naval officer in World War II. In Yondering, the author collects 13 of his non-Western short stories (plus one short poem), and provides each one with a brief introduction. (Although one introduction serves for three stories, which share a setting in pre-WWII Shanghai.)
"Let Me Forget..." is an excellent example of successful formal (it's not rhymed, but is metered) poetry, using a linkage of beautiful images to suggest a serious idea without explicitly stating it. (In this case, the idea is the tension or conflict between his wanderlust and the need for a sedentary time to practice his craft as a writer.) It's short, 13 lines in two stanzas, but says everything that needs to be said.
Every one of the stories here are winners: crafted to perfectly accomplish the author's purposes, written in good clear prose, well-conceived and polished to shine like jewels. (Three of them feature a sailor-drifter narrator, known only by the nickname "Duke" if he's named at all.) One of these is profoundly tragic; but like the characters, we as readers feel it to be tragic because we've come to care, and this capacity for caring gives us something enduring at the price of the tragedy. (Something like the Tin Man's line in the old Wizard of Oz movie: "Now I know I have a heart, because it's breaking.")
"The Dancing Kate," is a vintage example of the type of yarn readers probably expect from this author: a simple, direct tale of danger, intrigue and adventure, with a hero on a mission, a fortune in gold at stake, and a need for courage and quick thinking (and a quick draw). But it's a well-done example of its type, and set a notch above many similar stories from that era by the positive treatment of non-white characters. Other selections are in a similar mold. "Where There's Fighting," the lead story, is a stark, compactly-written, gripping tale of a few British soldiers (and one Yank, with a colorful backstory) stuck in the mountains behind enemy lines during the German invasion of Greece and facing a vast column of oncoming troops. There's a significant note of social criticism in "Survival," where the sole surviving crew member of a shipwrecked vessel (which might not have wrecked if not for the shipping company's negligence and indifference to safety) recounts the harrowing tale of survival --or not survival, for some-- in an open boat in the Pacific, to landlubbers including a company hack who'd like to make him the scapegoat. "Glorious! Glorious!" (the title in the table of contents has the word twice, but above the story itself the word only appears once) is set in Spanish Morocco in 1921, during the war between Spain and the Riff Berber tribe. It's a grim, violent tale that focuses on four disparate soldiers of the Spanish Foreign Legion (the counterpart of the more famous French one), part of a doomed garrison in a written-off outpost facing imminent annihilation. (The title comes from a drinking song, but there's definitely nothing glorious here --nor, L'Amour implies, in war in general.) In "Dead-End Drift," the author draws on his mining experience to spin a story of four trapped miners, buried alive by a sudden cave-in, who have no realistic hope for survival --or do they? Finally, "A Friend of the General" gives the reader a glimpse into the milieu of Chinese war lords and arms dealing. It's a world of decidedly self-serving people, where ethics aren't a matter of much consideration, a world characterized by high stakes, danger, double-crosses and assassins --but despite all that, it's a story that has an undercurrent of humor.
Other stories, though, surprise the reader --sometimes by the endings, but more importantly by showing probably unsuspected facets of the author's creativity, because they have plots wholly unlike the action-adventure we associate with him. "Shaghai, Not Without Gestures," for instance, is the sort of nuanced story of male-female social interaction that Katharine Mansfield might have written. (It's also a real indictment of the miserable position of an unemployed, destitute woman in that time --which hasn't improved any today!) "The Man Who Stole Shakespeare," on the other hand, reminded me of Evelyn Waugh. (I don't suggest, though, that L'Amour slavishly imitated either of those writers; the personal touch on these stories is all his own.) "Old Doc Yak" is another example. Straight-up mainstream fiction, it's a sensitive character study (with an undercurrent of implicit social commentary), set in a Depression-stricken West Coast seaport, where out-of-work sailors struggle for day-to-day food and shelter, and to preserve their own self-respect.
Strictly speaking, "Author's Tea" is more of a sketch than a plotted story, and probably the most autobiographical of the bunch. Dugan, the protagonist of "The Dancing Kate," appears here as an author of tales drawn on his experiences, stuck with attending a literary social function where he's surrounded by writer-wannabes with very little clue as to what writing is really about and very little understanding of the kind of fiction he writes nor of the kind of lifestyle that produced it. One could feel L'Amour venting some of the frustration he must have felt in many very similar settings! I'm guessing that the character "Duke" mentioned above is a nickname for Dugan, and that the single character is definitely modeled on the author himself.
Probably my own favorite story here is "A Moon of the Trees Broken by Snow: A Chrismas Story" (the title translates an Indian name for the month roughly corresponding to our December), the last selection in the book. It's set in the 1300s in the world of the North American cliff dwellers, who have never heard of Christ or Christmas, but as the title says, it's a Christmas story. How, you ask... well, you'll just have to read it!
Some of the stories use nautical or mining argot that uninitiated readers (me included!) won't completely understand; but you can work around this to get enough idea of what's going on, in context, that it doesn't interfere with enjoying the story. L'Amour is my wife's favorite writer; and he's become one of mine as well!
Best known for his Westerns, Louis L'Amour actually wrote stories and novels set in a variety of times and places. Like his Westerns, though, many of these tend to feature strong heroes who are macho but moral (and he well understood that these aren't contradictory qualities!), and who face physical and other challenges not unlike those that might have arisen on the Western frontier. The grist for these yarns came mainly from personal experience (though he also read voraciously): after leaving home at the age of 15, driven by a desire to travel and broaden his experience, L'Amour led a strenuous, highly masculine life as a young man, which included seafaring around the world, a successful boxing career, and service as a naval officer in World War II. In Yondering, the author collects 13 of his non-Western short stories (plus one short poem), and provides each one with a brief introduction. (Although one introduction serves for three stories, which share a setting in pre-WWII Shanghai.)
"Let Me Forget..." is an excellent example of successful formal (it's not rhymed, but is metered) poetry, using a linkage of beautiful images to suggest a serious idea without explicitly stating it. (In this case, the idea is the tension or conflict between his wanderlust and the need for a sedentary time to practice his craft as a writer.) It's short, 13 lines in two stanzas, but says everything that needs to be said.
Every one of the stories here are winners: crafted to perfectly accomplish the author's purposes, written in good clear prose, well-conceived and polished to shine like jewels. (Three of them feature a sailor-drifter narrator, known only by the nickname "Duke" if he's named at all.) One of these is profoundly tragic; but like the characters, we as readers feel it to be tragic because we've come to care, and this capacity for caring gives us something enduring at the price of the tragedy. (Something like the Tin Man's line in the old Wizard of Oz movie: "Now I know I have a heart, because it's breaking.")
"The Dancing Kate," is a vintage example of the type of yarn readers probably expect from this author: a simple, direct tale of danger, intrigue and adventure, with a hero on a mission, a fortune in gold at stake, and a need for courage and quick thinking (and a quick draw). But it's a well-done example of its type, and set a notch above many similar stories from that era by the positive treatment of non-white characters. Other selections are in a similar mold. "Where There's Fighting," the lead story, is a stark, compactly-written, gripping tale of a few British soldiers (and one Yank, with a colorful backstory) stuck in the mountains behind enemy lines during the German invasion of Greece and facing a vast column of oncoming troops. There's a significant note of social criticism in "Survival," where the sole surviving crew member of a shipwrecked vessel (which might not have wrecked if not for the shipping company's negligence and indifference to safety) recounts the harrowing tale of survival --or not survival, for some-- in an open boat in the Pacific, to landlubbers including a company hack who'd like to make him the scapegoat. "Glorious! Glorious!" (the title in the table of contents has the word twice, but above the story itself the word only appears once) is set in Spanish Morocco in 1921, during the war between Spain and the Riff Berber tribe. It's a grim, violent tale that focuses on four disparate soldiers of the Spanish Foreign Legion (the counterpart of the more famous French one), part of a doomed garrison in a written-off outpost facing imminent annihilation. (The title comes from a drinking song, but there's definitely nothing glorious here --nor, L'Amour implies, in war in general.) In "Dead-End Drift," the author draws on his mining experience to spin a story of four trapped miners, buried alive by a sudden cave-in, who have no realistic hope for survival --or do they? Finally, "A Friend of the General" gives the reader a glimpse into the milieu of Chinese war lords and arms dealing. It's a world of decidedly self-serving people, where ethics aren't a matter of much consideration, a world characterized by high stakes, danger, double-crosses and assassins --but despite all that, it's a story that has an undercurrent of humor.
Other stories, though, surprise the reader --sometimes by the endings, but more importantly by showing probably unsuspected facets of the author's creativity, because they have plots wholly unlike the action-adventure we associate with him. "Shaghai, Not Without Gestures," for instance, is the sort of nuanced story of male-female social interaction that Katharine Mansfield might have written. (It's also a real indictment of the miserable position of an unemployed, destitute woman in that time --which hasn't improved any today!) "The Man Who Stole Shakespeare," on the other hand, reminded me of Evelyn Waugh. (I don't suggest, though, that L'Amour slavishly imitated either of those writers; the personal touch on these stories is all his own.) "Old Doc Yak" is another example. Straight-up mainstream fiction, it's a sensitive character study (with an undercurrent of implicit social commentary), set in a Depression-stricken West Coast seaport, where out-of-work sailors struggle for day-to-day food and shelter, and to preserve their own self-respect.
Strictly speaking, "Author's Tea" is more of a sketch than a plotted story, and probably the most autobiographical of the bunch. Dugan, the protagonist of "The Dancing Kate," appears here as an author of tales drawn on his experiences, stuck with attending a literary social function where he's surrounded by writer-wannabes with very little clue as to what writing is really about and very little understanding of the kind of fiction he writes nor of the kind of lifestyle that produced it. One could feel L'Amour venting some of the frustration he must have felt in many very similar settings! I'm guessing that the character "Duke" mentioned above is a nickname for Dugan, and that the single character is definitely modeled on the author himself.
Probably my own favorite story here is "A Moon of the Trees Broken by Snow: A Chrismas Story" (the title translates an Indian name for the month roughly corresponding to our December), the last selection in the book. It's set in the 1300s in the world of the North American cliff dwellers, who have never heard of Christ or Christmas, but as the title says, it's a Christmas story. How, you ask... well, you'll just have to read it!
Some of the stories use nautical or mining argot that uninitiated readers (me included!) won't completely understand; but you can work around this to get enough idea of what's going on, in context, that it doesn't interfere with enjoying the story. L'Amour is my wife's favorite writer; and he's become one of mine as well!
December 30, 2018
After just finishing the first-time release of No Traveller Returns, I was hungry for more of the author's early style of writing that was somewhat raw, often full of action. Most of all, I wanted more of that fascinating character-driven narration.
In Yondering, he introduced men and some women from all walks of life and from all over the world who frequented the waterfronts, the old exotic cities, backwater places, and rusted old ships and trains. I like the way he sketches in a character and story with an economy of words in these short stories so that I knew I was reading about real people in real situations handling the life's situation they are given as best they can.
If I added right, there are twenty short stories in this collection. I won't pretend to enjoy them all equally. Some were moving to the point of tears while at other times I got a chuckle when a character had some sass. Others were shocking in their abrupt open endings that left me wondering what came next. Some were a breathtaking tale of survival while others were more reflective and thought provoking. There is a bittersweet feel to many if not sad while just a few were triumphant.
This is definitely a variety just as the protagonists themselves. The characters come from all walks of life though most of these tales have something to do with ports and the sea though there are hobos on trains, miners, adventurers, and the classic soldiers of fortune. Some were character sketches that seemed to merely observe a snapshot in a life facing a crisis rather than a full story.
Some of my favorite stories in the bunch are about a shipwreck survivor in 'Survival', a curious old man in 'The Man Who Stole Shakespeare', and one about a mine cave in (and I can't remember the title off hand). I didn't dislike any of the stories and they were all of varying lengths with some brief.
I particularly enjoyed that this newest edition came with archival audio footage of Louis L'Amour, himself, introducing the stories and talking about his life experiencing much of what he put into these stories so they felt semi autobiographical when I listened.
I experienced Yondering in Audio format and enjoyed the voice work of all three narrators: Michael Boatman, Jason Culp, and George Newburn. I thought they meshed well with these stories from the era between the two world wars involving the need for a variety of male and a few female voices from the working classes and of international origins at that. Sadly, while I can admit to appreciating each narrator's work, the narrators were not introduced for each story and I only recognize one's narration work (Culp) so I can't match up what stories the others were specifically responsible for telling.
All in all, this collection was engaging- sometimes riveting and other times more thought-provoking. There is a melancholy and nostalgic tone to most and the focus is very much on the character of the protagonist and the setting more than heart-pounding action like the majority of this author's works. Though there are some exciting ones tucked in here and there, too. Historical Fiction fans who want the gritty hard-boiled storytelling of the 1930's and a variety of settings and circumstances should give this collection a try.
My thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.
In Yondering, he introduced men and some women from all walks of life and from all over the world who frequented the waterfronts, the old exotic cities, backwater places, and rusted old ships and trains. I like the way he sketches in a character and story with an economy of words in these short stories so that I knew I was reading about real people in real situations handling the life's situation they are given as best they can.
If I added right, there are twenty short stories in this collection. I won't pretend to enjoy them all equally. Some were moving to the point of tears while at other times I got a chuckle when a character had some sass. Others were shocking in their abrupt open endings that left me wondering what came next. Some were a breathtaking tale of survival while others were more reflective and thought provoking. There is a bittersweet feel to many if not sad while just a few were triumphant.
This is definitely a variety just as the protagonists themselves. The characters come from all walks of life though most of these tales have something to do with ports and the sea though there are hobos on trains, miners, adventurers, and the classic soldiers of fortune. Some were character sketches that seemed to merely observe a snapshot in a life facing a crisis rather than a full story.
Some of my favorite stories in the bunch are about a shipwreck survivor in 'Survival', a curious old man in 'The Man Who Stole Shakespeare', and one about a mine cave in (and I can't remember the title off hand). I didn't dislike any of the stories and they were all of varying lengths with some brief.
I particularly enjoyed that this newest edition came with archival audio footage of Louis L'Amour, himself, introducing the stories and talking about his life experiencing much of what he put into these stories so they felt semi autobiographical when I listened.
I experienced Yondering in Audio format and enjoyed the voice work of all three narrators: Michael Boatman, Jason Culp, and George Newburn. I thought they meshed well with these stories from the era between the two world wars involving the need for a variety of male and a few female voices from the working classes and of international origins at that. Sadly, while I can admit to appreciating each narrator's work, the narrators were not introduced for each story and I only recognize one's narration work (Culp) so I can't match up what stories the others were specifically responsible for telling.
All in all, this collection was engaging- sometimes riveting and other times more thought-provoking. There is a melancholy and nostalgic tone to most and the focus is very much on the character of the protagonist and the setting more than heart-pounding action like the majority of this author's works. Though there are some exciting ones tucked in here and there, too. Historical Fiction fans who want the gritty hard-boiled storytelling of the 1930's and a variety of settings and circumstances should give this collection a try.
My thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 29, 2010
I put this in westerns to go along with my other L'Amour stuff but it's really a collection of short memoir material from L'Amour about his early wandering days, before he settled down to write full time. I thought it was just wonderful. All the pieces here are short but many are very touching and very revalatory. Lots of intersting characters show up. Something good to read for those who think L'Amour can only write genre adventure.
July 2, 2013
In this 1989 revised edition, L'Amour tells more tales of his early seafaring days. How do you survive in a port between ships when money is short? What kind of unique characters existed out there? They may not have been cowboys, but they had the frontier spirit. As usual, L'Amour's recollections and embellishments are well-crafted and memorable.
October 11, 2014
A collection of tales and thoughts of and by Louis L'Amour. Up to his usual high quality. The geography of his locations is accurate.
March 15, 2020
I enjoyed this collection of his stories.
March 18, 2016
Louis L'Amour is well known for his westerns but he also wrote quite a few stories about other sorts of adventure. This volume collects some of the stories that he wrote in his early days, covering tales from his adventures in Singapore and in World War II, etc. Many of these stories relate to his own personal experiences with only a few names changed to protect the innocent.
A good collection of stories that prove once again, what an amazing life he led before and during his writing career.
A good collection of stories that prove once again, what an amazing life he led before and during his writing career.
May 7, 2014
Louis was more interesting as a person than his fiction, and these stories from the pulp days are based on his global, journeyman blue collar work experience. Decent stuff, nothing exceptional but perfect for a airplane read.
October 25, 2022
This is a good set of short stories that are not westerns. They discuss the time when the author was roaming the world, working all kinds of jobs. They are written well!
Note: This book is almost exactly like the book: "The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 4 Part 1"
Note: This book is almost exactly like the book: "The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 4 Part 1"
July 4, 2019
Yondering is a collection of short stories by Louis L'Amour, published in 1980. Unlike his traditional Old West subject matter, Yondering contains a mix of adventure and character studies, primarily set in the first half of the 20th century.
The best way to understand why L’Amour would write the type of stories in Yondering is to read his book The Education of a Wandering Man that starts with him dropping out of school at age 15 becoming a wandering young man. He first became a hobo on the Southern Pacific Railroad, then a Cattle Skinner in Texas. He even became a world traveler, merchant seaman, based in Singapore. He made a living anyway he could. He worked as a hired hand, cowboy, and even as a prize fighter. He traveled the rails, lived in hobo camps, and learned while listening to men around the fires in the evening teaching him to be a natural storyteller.
Yondering tells stories that likely had there setting in early travels before L’Amour settled on western plots. It contains two stories that are set in the World War 11 time period and others in oceans and cities and mountains throughout the world
L’Amour said about the stories: “I have collected some of these in Yondering. They are glimpses of what my own life was like during the early years. Those were the rough years; often I was hungry, out of work and facing situations such as I have since written about.”
The stories are interesting. They bring the time and places into real focus and represent some of his best work. Your left wishing, he had written an entire book rather than just a short story.
More on this book and more on the author see https://connectedeventsmatter.com/blo...
The best way to understand why L’Amour would write the type of stories in Yondering is to read his book The Education of a Wandering Man that starts with him dropping out of school at age 15 becoming a wandering young man. He first became a hobo on the Southern Pacific Railroad, then a Cattle Skinner in Texas. He even became a world traveler, merchant seaman, based in Singapore. He made a living anyway he could. He worked as a hired hand, cowboy, and even as a prize fighter. He traveled the rails, lived in hobo camps, and learned while listening to men around the fires in the evening teaching him to be a natural storyteller.
Yondering tells stories that likely had there setting in early travels before L’Amour settled on western plots. It contains two stories that are set in the World War 11 time period and others in oceans and cities and mountains throughout the world
L’Amour said about the stories: “I have collected some of these in Yondering. They are glimpses of what my own life was like during the early years. Those were the rough years; often I was hungry, out of work and facing situations such as I have since written about.”
The stories are interesting. They bring the time and places into real focus and represent some of his best work. Your left wishing, he had written an entire book rather than just a short story.
More on this book and more on the author see https://connectedeventsmatter.com/blo...
July 8, 2011
A collection of short stories from the life of Louis L'Amour, the preeminent author of western fiction in America. These are word snapshots of different experiences in his life that give the reader a better understanding of what made him tick, and what went into the cooking pot that made him who he was. I was especially touched by his story titled "The Man Who Stole Shakespeare." He spoke of following a man whom he had observed to shoplift a book in a small bookstore, only to discover that he was illiterate, but loved books deeply. He spent much time while stranded in that foreign country visiting with the "man who stole Shakespeare" from time to time to read to him from the many books he had acquired, but didn't know how to read. Man of the other stories from LL's life are just as interesting.
7/4/11 - Back for a re-read. Worth re-reading.
7/4/11 - Back for a re-read. Worth re-reading.
Read
December 25, 2015Short stories are okay, but I had enough by page 121. There were some stories I real liked and I was really enjoying then the story ended. Others that I pushed through and was glad when they ended.
Stories ranged from miners caught in a cave in, battles fought in the mountains and sand to a cruise liner sinking at sea. There were stories of adventure, more of survival and the slowest times in a sailors life: stranded in port.
Stick this book in a desk drawer or glove box and read a story at lunch or when you're stuck in a parking lot and you'll find more enjoyment of it than trying to read straight through it.
Stories ranged from miners caught in a cave in, battles fought in the mountains and sand to a cruise liner sinking at sea. There were stories of adventure, more of survival and the slowest times in a sailors life: stranded in port.
Stick this book in a desk drawer or glove box and read a story at lunch or when you're stuck in a parking lot and you'll find more enjoyment of it than trying to read straight through it.
February 10, 2022
I have never read any books by Louis L’Amour but had always thought of him as a western novel writer. Some how I picked this book up and found it most entertaining. It definitely is not a western novel. L’Amour apparently had very adventurous life as a young man. This book is a collection of short stories that relate his experiences or, at least, situations and people that he encountered in the various jobs that he held. Among those jobs were: lumberjack, seaman, miner, elephant handler, and others. Every story rings true. Highly recommended.
January 5, 2012
Any writer who wants to see how a master constructs tight, well-structured short stories should read this book. L'Amour was best known for his westerns, but these tales were influenced by his years as a merchant sailor traveling the world. He captures the gritty realism and hard times he experienced, and yet the stories are often uplifting. If you want to understand how a guy could sell 100 million books, read a few stories from Yondering and it will make perfect sense.
December 10, 2016
An adventure is just romanticized trouble.
I have always loved Louis L'Amour's writting since I was a child, and this was no exception.
Like most people, I know him for his western stories, but this collectuon of short stories gives light to some of his other works as well as a look into his own life.
I learned and felt a lot of things alongside of him and the characters in his stories.
I will forever love his work, and this look into his life only strengthened that love.
I have always loved Louis L'Amour's writting since I was a child, and this was no exception.
Like most people, I know him for his western stories, but this collectuon of short stories gives light to some of his other works as well as a look into his own life.
I learned and felt a lot of things alongside of him and the characters in his stories.
I will forever love his work, and this look into his life only strengthened that love.
June 7, 2020
Who was Louis L'Amour? This group of articles and short stories explain much of his experiences. I found the Morocco short story a very good story. Other stories he picks up from his youth and his trips to Singapore, Shanghai, and Paris. By the time he started writing he had seriously led life as an adventure. Not a single western short story in this one.
August 31, 2018
I've read this book over and over during the past 35 years, and I am glad that I now have my own copy so I can read it again whenever I want. The short stories are crisp and tough and they cut to the quick of how it was during the years that Louis writes about.
May 22, 2020
The stories were mostly wonderful, with maybe one or two that felt boring at first. The best ones, in my opinion, were The Admiral, Old Doc Yak, and Dead-End Drift. he stories were short and colorful, and they were more about the situations then the characters.
March 6, 2008
PG
I don't think much of Lamore's novels, but he tells a wicked short story. If you don't like most of his work, try this collection before completely giving up on him.
I don't think much of Lamore's novels, but he tells a wicked short story. If you don't like most of his work, try this collection before completely giving up on him.
September 29, 2008
some day I'll yonder too. Count on it.
December 29, 2009
Great Book!
January 30, 2010
I went through a big L'Amour phase in late high school and college. I read all of Steve's and often bought a new one for the plane ride home.
September 18, 2017
This is outside his western genre work but excellent stuff. I particularly enjoyed the stories of Shanghai. The merchant seamen pieces were great as well. Well worth the time.
Read
August 13, 2020A book of short stories mostly from early in Louis's career (pre-WWII). Not westerns. Thre are some sea-faring stories, and Asian locales. As usual, a pleasant way to kill some time!
January 24, 2021
NOT westerns.
October 11, 2021
respect louis l'amour much more as a real manly man
December 30, 2021
This book has a collection of his short travel stories.
The more I read about his life the more I think he was an exceptional man.
The more I read about his life the more I think he was an exceptional man.
February 1, 2022
Short stories
A collection of great short stories. I prefer novels over short stories. I prefer novels because I like to settle into a story for the long hall.
A collection of great short stories. I prefer novels over short stories. I prefer novels because I like to settle into a story for the long hall.
May 19, 2023
In many ways this books feels like the last that was published by Mr. L'Amour. A number of the stories I have read in other short story collections published by him. There is a melancholy to some of these stories. Like someone saying good bye to a dying friend. It is difficult to have read all these stories over the last months. I have had almost all of the books he wrote and I have loved all of them. They have been like good friends that are always close saying let's go out and play. I still have a few books to read but the stories are mostly ones I have already read. I often wish that Mr. L'Amour had lived just a little longer so he could have written a few more of the stories that he had planned. It is selfish I know but no other author has caused me to search used book stores and books sellers on to get all of his books.
February 21, 2021
I am pretty stingy with my one-and-five-star reviews. I try to find redeeming things about books and give them two-star reviews... But L'Amour should've stuck to westerns in my opinion. Lots of these stories are super forgettable, and I forgot what they were about in an hour. It's been a while since I was looking forward to the end of a book more for it to end than to see how it ends. But this book achieves it. Maybe I've been jaded by the string of lackluster books I've had, but this gets the Goodreads Goose Egg.
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