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Cottonwood by Scott Phillips
In his New York Times notable debut, The Ice Harvest , Scott Phillips gave readers an instant noir classic that spanned twenty-four eventful hours in the life of a mob lawyer hoping to skip town (namely Wichita) with a small fortune. Phillips followed with the acclaimed sequel, The Walkaway , showing how a seeming windfall can wreak wicked havoc on the lives of its recipients. Now this award-winning author broadens his canvas, writing his most accomplished novel yet—one that is rich in suspense, drama, historical sweep, and Phillips’s unique blend of unforgettable characters.In 1872, Cottonwood, Kansas, is a one-horse speck on the map; a community of run-down farms, dusty roads, and two-bit crooks. Self-educated saloon owner and photographer Bill Ogden looks on his adopted town with an eye to making a profit or getting out. His brains and ambition bring him to the attention of one Marc Leval, a wealthy Chicago developer with big plans for the small town. The advent of the railroad and rumors of a cattle trail turn Cottonwood into a wild and wooly boomtown—and with Leval as a partner, Ogden dreams of bringing civilization to the prairie.But civilizing the Great Plains was never that simple. While many in Cottonwood distrust Leval’s motives, and mob violence threatens to derail the town’s dreams of greatness, Ogden finds himself dangerously obsessed with Leval’s stunningly beautiful wife. Meanwhile, plying its sinister trade unnoticed, an apparently ordinary local farm family quietly butchers traveling salesmen, weary travelers, and other unsuspecting wanderers.In his own inimitable brand of narrative wizardry, Scott Phillips traces the metamorphosis of a frontier town that becomes a lightning rod for sin, corruption, and murder. He also brings to life actual crimes that befell Kansas in the 1870s and 1880s, carried out by a strange clan who popularly became known as The Bloody Benders. Brilliantly written, maliciously fun, and full of many surprises, Cottonwood is historical fiction at its finest.From the Hardcover edition.
Hardcover
First published February 3, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
January 4, 2023
This novel is a Western of sorts ...in the sense that it's set in Kansas in 1870-1890 when people rode horses and carried side-arms.
There is much action, but not of the fast-draw gunfighter variety. Think of it as what could have been a terrific vehicle for James Garner post-Rockford Files.
The good-natured narrator is a bartender/photographer and enthusiastic philanderer as well as hapless cuckold who finds himself involved with a man and his wife who might well turn out to be swindlers operating on a grand scale of the long con.
Along the way numerous minor crimes are committed, punches are thrown, occasional gunfire erupts, serial murders of the most heinous variety occur and various mysteries present themselves for the narrator to solve.
Eventually.
More or less.
This leisurely paced novel –loosely based on historic fact- features memorable characters, whimsical descriptions of the wiles of flirtatious women, the men who fall for same and the dangers therein, and enough intrigue and action to leave the reader wishing there were more pages to turn.
Highly Recommended!
Update 1/23
I need to reread this. God but I had a grand time with this novel!
There is much action, but not of the fast-draw gunfighter variety. Think of it as what could have been a terrific vehicle for James Garner post-Rockford Files.
The good-natured narrator is a bartender/photographer and enthusiastic philanderer as well as hapless cuckold who finds himself involved with a man and his wife who might well turn out to be swindlers operating on a grand scale of the long con.
Along the way numerous minor crimes are committed, punches are thrown, occasional gunfire erupts, serial murders of the most heinous variety occur and various mysteries present themselves for the narrator to solve.
Eventually.
More or less.
This leisurely paced novel –loosely based on historic fact- features memorable characters, whimsical descriptions of the wiles of flirtatious women, the men who fall for same and the dangers therein, and enough intrigue and action to leave the reader wishing there were more pages to turn.
Highly Recommended!
Update 1/23
I need to reread this. God but I had a grand time with this novel!
September 28, 2013
Holy shit, buy this book.
I know I’m a latecomer to the Scott Phillips Fan Party, but this guy does something magical with words. I used to wander around the book store, browsing titles, reading first pages, sick with the sure knowledge I’d bet and lose. Nothing’s worse than getting a chapter in and realizing the author doesn’t know where he’s going. Lucky for me that a friend introduced me to Scott over a beer, and I felt compelled to pick up a title I otherwise might have missed.
Scott Phillips is a mountain goat. Follow his feet and he’ll lead you through a literary landscape fraught with surprises and twists, jagged plots and some of the boldest humor you’ll see in legitimate print.
That one stopped me in my tracks. “You pleasured Lincoln and Booth?”
She slipped her arm into the crook of mine with a serenely proprietary smile. At close range she appeared old enough to have serviced the Continental Congress…
And some simply beautiful cowboy prose:
“There I got a tin cup of coffee like axle grease and horseshit along with a plate of biscuits, and set about eating them as quickly as I could.”
You can read Cottonwood as historical fiction, as it deals with the Bender family, mass murderers who performed surprisingly brutal acts of killing upon dozens of men during the late 1800′s.
You can read Cottonwood as a suspense novel, as I assure you from page to page you’ll not guess what comes next.
You can read Cottonwood as a character study. The protagonist is a farmer/barkeep/photographer who seems to be able to get any passing woman to agree to cunnilingus. Narrated in first person, the protagonists’ use of language is exactly what you’d expect if you dropped a scholar of Greek classics–which he is–into 1880 Kansas. “Elegantly stilted” comes to mind.
Within a couple pages you’ll know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller, one who leaves nothing to chance. Phillips weaves words together so marvelously you’ll find yourself going back to read a paragraph over and over to see how he planted a thought in your mind without directly saying it.
It’s damn nice to be in the hands of an author who leaves nothing to chance. Who knows how to convey a thought that is deeper than the words he uses to convey it. Consider this sequence: “I couldn’t stand another of those damned prayer sessions without bursting out with the news that I’d been laying his wife so frequently that the only excitement left in it was the increasingly likely possibility that we’d be found out.” The other man, though, is kind and generous, and this quickly follows: “By the time I left I disliked Harding because he had treated me kindly and fairly, thereby failing to give me a reason to justify the wrong I had done him.”
The protagonist is a complicated man in some regards, blatantly simple in others. Cottonwood is laugh out loud funny–but here’s the thing–when you get laughing, slow down. Scott Phillips is running a clinic on writing, and you don’t want to miss a lesson.
- See more at: http://www.claytonlindemuth.com/2013/...
I know I’m a latecomer to the Scott Phillips Fan Party, but this guy does something magical with words. I used to wander around the book store, browsing titles, reading first pages, sick with the sure knowledge I’d bet and lose. Nothing’s worse than getting a chapter in and realizing the author doesn’t know where he’s going. Lucky for me that a friend introduced me to Scott over a beer, and I felt compelled to pick up a title I otherwise might have missed.
Scott Phillips is a mountain goat. Follow his feet and he’ll lead you through a literary landscape fraught with surprises and twists, jagged plots and some of the boldest humor you’ll see in legitimate print.
That one stopped me in my tracks. “You pleasured Lincoln and Booth?”
She slipped her arm into the crook of mine with a serenely proprietary smile. At close range she appeared old enough to have serviced the Continental Congress…
And some simply beautiful cowboy prose:
“There I got a tin cup of coffee like axle grease and horseshit along with a plate of biscuits, and set about eating them as quickly as I could.”
You can read Cottonwood as historical fiction, as it deals with the Bender family, mass murderers who performed surprisingly brutal acts of killing upon dozens of men during the late 1800′s.
You can read Cottonwood as a suspense novel, as I assure you from page to page you’ll not guess what comes next.
You can read Cottonwood as a character study. The protagonist is a farmer/barkeep/photographer who seems to be able to get any passing woman to agree to cunnilingus. Narrated in first person, the protagonists’ use of language is exactly what you’d expect if you dropped a scholar of Greek classics–which he is–into 1880 Kansas. “Elegantly stilted” comes to mind.
Within a couple pages you’ll know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller, one who leaves nothing to chance. Phillips weaves words together so marvelously you’ll find yourself going back to read a paragraph over and over to see how he planted a thought in your mind without directly saying it.
It’s damn nice to be in the hands of an author who leaves nothing to chance. Who knows how to convey a thought that is deeper than the words he uses to convey it. Consider this sequence: “I couldn’t stand another of those damned prayer sessions without bursting out with the news that I’d been laying his wife so frequently that the only excitement left in it was the increasingly likely possibility that we’d be found out.” The other man, though, is kind and generous, and this quickly follows: “By the time I left I disliked Harding because he had treated me kindly and fairly, thereby failing to give me a reason to justify the wrong I had done him.”
The protagonist is a complicated man in some regards, blatantly simple in others. Cottonwood is laugh out loud funny–but here’s the thing–when you get laughing, slow down. Scott Phillips is running a clinic on writing, and you don’t want to miss a lesson.
- See more at: http://www.claytonlindemuth.com/2013/...
July 12, 2024
Phillips cleverly blends pulpy action with historical fiction. This is an intelligently written epic with many surprise twists. The stoic main character, Bill Ogden, always winds up at the center of the turbulence. Bill is not as hard-boiled and more of a chump than his descendant Wayne Ogden from The Adjustment.
September 22, 2009
I was so enthused about this book--described on the cover as "crime fiction at its best" and set in "Cottonwood, Kansas" in 1872. The setting of this typical Kansas town is well-developed and adds much to the story, and the development of the community is a considerable part of the story. However, the book hinges not on the crimes committed, but on the narrator's affair with the lead community developer's wife.
The narrator is strangely cold and unfeeling towards his wife, his son, and even his new-found lover. As the development of the city leaves center stage, the story drags on to a conclustion that wraps everything up in 10 pages and includes a tornado and completely unclear epilogue.
Worth reading for someone interesting in the conversion of the prairie into something resembling civilzation, but as for plot and storyline, this is a no-go.
The narrator is strangely cold and unfeeling towards his wife, his son, and even his new-found lover. As the development of the city leaves center stage, the story drags on to a conclustion that wraps everything up in 10 pages and includes a tornado and completely unclear epilogue.
Worth reading for someone interesting in the conversion of the prairie into something resembling civilzation, but as for plot and storyline, this is a no-go.
Read
July 19, 2008This came out well before HBO's "Deadwood" - I think Scott should sue!
May 25, 2025
Set in southeast Kansas in the fictionalized town of Cottonwood, this story is set in the late 1800's. (There is a real town of Cottonwood Falls in eastern Kansas, but not as far south as this town in said to be.) Although the town does not exist, the author states that he uses some of the history of other real towns in that general area, like Independence, Oswego, and Cherryvale. Many of his characters are of his own creation, but some are based on people who lived during that time. Most notable, he uses a notorious Bender family, and their real names, as part of this story. The Benders are believed to have murdered numerous travelers passing through the area of SE Kansas.
The story is full of mishaps and suspense of various kinds, and definitely kept my attention. My rating is 3.5, rounded down.
The story is full of mishaps and suspense of various kinds, and definitely kept my attention. My rating is 3.5, rounded down.
May 15, 2016
As a Social Worker I spend most of my days in what Phish would call the "nasty part of town". I love my job and after the zoo it is the best people watching I have ever experienced. As a matter of fact I must have lost some weight recently because all the girls in short shorts on the Avenue wave and smile and try to get me to stop and flirt with them. On the negative side though, I have seen and smelled things that would make Satan weep. When I read awesome books like Cottonwood however all I can think about is how awful it must have smelled in the 1800's. And when Bill Ogden kept engaging in sexual congress with everyone he met all I could think about was how dank both of them must have been. However, I loved everything about this piece, especially the 1800's lingo. I've been trying to bring it back for 16 years now.
May 12, 2025
This was a great slice-of-life style Western. Dirty, bloody, meandering, a dash of pathos, and an ambiguous ending. Dug it.
March 24, 2025
Lots of Action
Good story, plenty of events and very little Nature Boy. But I take stories seriously; they are real to me -- like those women who watch soap operas -- and I'm good and tired of Bill Ogden. In this one and in The Devil Raises His Own he's way, way too horny for my tastes. If you actually ever knew guys like this you'd know they are insufferable; they have only one topic of conversation and it's always "Look at the rack on that one!" "What I could do with that!" "I wouldn't throw her outta bed for eating crackers!" &c., &c.
Bill's a "photographer", which should be tip-off enough for anyone. There isn't a camera-nut alive who bought his first camera without tits being at the top of his list of subjects. (Incidentally, Gutenberg's first publication was pics of tits. And if you think the first cave etchings were of "The Hunt", you're a sucker, you probably wore three masks.)
We all know what jackasses Know-it-alls are; well, Pork-it-alls are almost as bad.
I don't know about Phillips himself, but Ogden needs to do a 23andMe and get this sorted out.
Good story, plenty of events and very little Nature Boy. But I take stories seriously; they are real to me -- like those women who watch soap operas -- and I'm good and tired of Bill Ogden. In this one and in The Devil Raises His Own he's way, way too horny for my tastes. If you actually ever knew guys like this you'd know they are insufferable; they have only one topic of conversation and it's always "Look at the rack on that one!" "What I could do with that!" "I wouldn't throw her outta bed for eating crackers!" &c., &c.
Bill's a "photographer", which should be tip-off enough for anyone. There isn't a camera-nut alive who bought his first camera without tits being at the top of his list of subjects. (Incidentally, Gutenberg's first publication was pics of tits. And if you think the first cave etchings were of "The Hunt", you're a sucker, you probably wore three masks.)
We all know what jackasses Know-it-alls are; well, Pork-it-alls are almost as bad.
I don't know about Phillips himself, but Ogden needs to do a 23andMe and get this sorted out.
January 31, 2011
I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Bill Ogden is a likable character and Cottonwood is a fantastic setting which at times had me nostalgic for Deadwood. This was loosely based on true events though Cottonwood itself is fictitious - some nasty murders by very unsavory people. Personally I would've liked this to continue the sold opening sequences in Cottonwood rather than take a different direction. However this is an enjoyable read and a nice insight into life in the late 1800's. 3 stars.
March 18, 2013
A fictional retelling of the famous Bender serial-killer case in Kansas, as told by the ladies man Bill Ogden, a photographer/saloon owner who has a dalliance with the wife of the wealthy patron of the town of Cottonwood. Although interesting, the narrative never really catches fire, and even dramatic events are somewhat blandly related. I think most readers will enjoy the book, though I found it somewhat lacking. I will have to try his earlier efforts, however.
September 21, 2017
4.5 Stars!
We first enter the Kansas town of Cottonwood in 1872. As told by saloon-keeper/town-photographer Bill Ogden, the reader gets a great feel for this muddy ramshackle place, full of hardworking immigrants, drunks, prostitutes, troublemakers and peacekeepers. The novel proceeds as the story of a western town suddenly on the rise, with the hope that Cottonwood’s railhead will soon be the destination for cattle drives. Newcomer Marc Leval arrives from Chicago with loads of investment capital and big plans, he handpicks Bill as his local partner in Cottonwood’s future. Leval’s beautiful wife Maggie picks Bill for something else. As the town grows, so do the problems until things explode one night with fatal results. Oh, let us not forget the Bender family. No spoilers here, but they are involved in some nefarious doings that will affect the story of Cottonwood.
Part 2 jumps ahead 17 years. Bill has been gone for all this time, making his way in Denver and San Francisco. Now in 1890 he returns to a very different Cottonwood, full of people and bustle and big brick buildings. It’s time the secrets behind the bloody Bender clan and that deadly night of 1873 are revealed with no shortage of surprises and twists.
We first enter the Kansas town of Cottonwood in 1872. As told by saloon-keeper/town-photographer Bill Ogden, the reader gets a great feel for this muddy ramshackle place, full of hardworking immigrants, drunks, prostitutes, troublemakers and peacekeepers. The novel proceeds as the story of a western town suddenly on the rise, with the hope that Cottonwood’s railhead will soon be the destination for cattle drives. Newcomer Marc Leval arrives from Chicago with loads of investment capital and big plans, he handpicks Bill as his local partner in Cottonwood’s future. Leval’s beautiful wife Maggie picks Bill for something else. As the town grows, so do the problems until things explode one night with fatal results. Oh, let us not forget the Bender family. No spoilers here, but they are involved in some nefarious doings that will affect the story of Cottonwood.
Part 2 jumps ahead 17 years. Bill has been gone for all this time, making his way in Denver and San Francisco. Now in 1890 he returns to a very different Cottonwood, full of people and bustle and big brick buildings. It’s time the secrets behind the bloody Bender clan and that deadly night of 1873 are revealed with no shortage of surprises and twists.
September 9, 2024
This Western takes place in 1872 in the town of Cottonwood, Kansas when homesteader Bill Ogden gets involved with con man Marc Leval, a wealthy Chicago developer who claims that the small town will become a boom town. Ogden has several irons in the fire with a saloon and photography business, but Leval gets him involved in the development business and Ogden becomes involved with Leval's wife Maggie. The story is actually based on historical facts about a family named Bender that lured travelers to their home promising a meal and lodging and then murdered their guests. Ogden and Level have a falling out over the Bender situation, and Ogden leaves his hometown for several years to avoid prosecution for shooting Leval. It's actually quite a funny story as the author has a very dry sense of humor, and the town residents are all involved in side affairs which creates a lot of gossip in the small town. The book is very entertaining and a quick read.
October 19, 2024
I am tempted to give this 3 stars, but frankly, except for one point in the novel (just as Part II commences and develops), I was somewhat bewildered as to why I should be interested in any of the characters. What I discovered in the Author's Note is that one motivation for the novel is Phillips's desire to depict the heinous crimes of the real-life Benders (about which and about whom I can say no more due to spoiler issues), to set these within a plausible and in fact quite realistic socio-historical and narrative frame. Fair enough, but by the the end of the novel, I had developed the same indifference that I was experiencing throughout the first half. So, enjoyable in some ways, but also meh, and the concluding "letter" -- which I believe was supposed to resolve the narrative strings left hanging -- does not work entirely, creating more problems that resolutions.
November 11, 2024
Scott Phillips brings the 1800's and the bloody Benders in Kansas to life. While the story is fiction, his tale could be accurate, considering how little we know and how much we suspect of the Benders.
Through the experiences of Bill Ogden, a photographer and saloon owner, we see Cottonwood, Kansas, come to life. The community is growing with the help of a wealthy Chicago developer. When the railroad comes, the town grows by leaps and bounds, plus unsavory sorts move in. It's a tale of dreams on the prairie and the sinister complications.
It's quite a ride. Thanks, Scott.
Through the experiences of Bill Ogden, a photographer and saloon owner, we see Cottonwood, Kansas, come to life. The community is growing with the help of a wealthy Chicago developer. When the railroad comes, the town grows by leaps and bounds, plus unsavory sorts move in. It's a tale of dreams on the prairie and the sinister complications.
It's quite a ride. Thanks, Scott.
April 16, 2018
While the writing was really good and the story was interesting, the jump in time between part one and part two reduced my interest enough that I ended up reading a different book before getting back to the second half of this novel.
It was an interesting mix of mystery and historical fiction. I found it interesting how many characters chose things that were not in their best interests. I guess that makes for an interesting novel.
It was an interesting mix of mystery and historical fiction. I found it interesting how many characters chose things that were not in their best interests. I guess that makes for an interesting novel.
February 19, 2025
Welcome to Dead Soil
Loved it. The Epilogue really puts the "epi" in back in "epic".
This was like Welcome to Hard Times + Deadwood + Growth of the Soil.
Which, I guess, = Welcome to Dead Soil.
And if you read it, you'll see that I'm right.
Well, I'm off to go on a "Bender", if you know what I mean.
Loved it. The Epilogue really puts the "epi" in back in "epic".
This was like Welcome to Hard Times + Deadwood + Growth of the Soil.
Which, I guess, = Welcome to Dead Soil.
And if you read it, you'll see that I'm right.
Well, I'm off to go on a "Bender", if you know what I mean.
February 25, 2021
Phillips seems to be building his own Yoknapatawpha County in Kansas. This installment, set in the latter half of the 19th Century, isn’t as funny as the previous two. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed its central rouge’s exploits, many of which involve nonfictional characters.
September 1, 2024
DNF.
Got all kinds of good reviews (and Phillips' debut was a NYT "notable book"), but I found this slow, muddled as to what kind of story it wanted to be, and I didn't like the narrator/protagonist, so there wasn't anything to impel me on to finish after almost half the book. Meh.
Got all kinds of good reviews (and Phillips' debut was a NYT "notable book"), but I found this slow, muddled as to what kind of story it wanted to be, and I didn't like the narrator/protagonist, so there wasn't anything to impel me on to finish after almost half the book. Meh.
May 17, 2018
Not my normal choice of book but was passed on by a colleague. Historically interesting although at times I had to look back to see who was who.
January 20, 2022
Helaas kon het me niet echt trekken, pas rond het einde werd het leuker.
September 8, 2024
Nice and fun (if a novel with so many gruesome actions can be "fun"!) in Kansas in the 1870s and beyond.
December 12, 2024
I really want to give it 4.5 stars. It's a beautifully written book that had me from page one. But the ending felt a bit to uncertain and abrupt.
September 11, 2025
DNF. Just could not get into this one.
November 29, 2024
I am a fan of this author’s work but this book did not work for me. Interesting historical fiction made up of believable characters. All the characters have agency and overall it was well written. However, I was expecting a mystery and crime novel that focuses upon the crime and not upon a peripheral character’s life story. I will read more of this author’s work in hopes this book is not representative of his work.
August 26, 2022
Equally parts western, historical drama, suspense, and noir, this benefits from a mercurial yet sympathetic 'protagonist', a veritable smorgasbord of secondary characters, a leisurely—yet always sure—approach to narrative, and a wildly engaging prose style which works wonders in navigating the highs and lows of mood and subject, both dark and light, and a marvellous narrative voice and dialogue.
August 11, 2016
After hearing a reading by Scott Phillips at the Madisonville Community College in April, I immediately wanted more. Quite unfortunately for the reading public, I learned from Scott that the book from which his reading was originally drawn, _Cottonwood_, is currently out of print, but Scott was generous enough to hook me up with a copy. As excellent as the story from the reading was, it didn't even make the cut for inclusion in the final draft of that book. This speaks no discredit to the story, but instead suggests just how engaging and well-constructed the book itself is. There were plenty of other gems to go around, and thankfully that story Scott read is now part of _Hop Alley_, a novel that takes up the same characters and world of Cottonwood and expands on some missing years therein.
_Cottonwood_ follows the story of Bill Ogden, a local saloon owner and burgeoning photographer, as he makes his way in the developing frontier town of Cottonwood, Kansas. We follow Bill through a troubled marriage, a series of titillating romantic relations, business ventures, the discovery of a disturbing crime, each interwoven into a complex fabric of local life and each as carefully recounted and compelling to read as the other, whether it is the drama of murder or the composition of a photograph.
From there, the narrative jumps forward in time and space, following Bill to California and elsewhere, and it is not immediately apparent that both the love and the crime introduced in early years in Cottonwood will end up bringing Bill full circle, concluding his time back in Kansas in a most satisfactory manner.
The style and tone of the book reminded me both of _McCabe and Mrs. Miller_ and _Deadwood_, with a realism that is as gritty as it is well-researched, challenging simplistic representations of late nineteenth-century culture and morality without collapsing into an equally reductive caricature of the "wild west." As someone with an interest in the nineteenth century, I appreciated the subtle historical references and details that added richness to the narrative and demonstrated the careful research that must have been conducted to produce it. But the book would be equally appealing to those without any historical background or interest in historical fiction, the characters being so well-wrought and the narrative so engaging. I'm looking forward to reading _Hop Alley_ next!
_Cottonwood_ follows the story of Bill Ogden, a local saloon owner and burgeoning photographer, as he makes his way in the developing frontier town of Cottonwood, Kansas. We follow Bill through a troubled marriage, a series of titillating romantic relations, business ventures, the discovery of a disturbing crime, each interwoven into a complex fabric of local life and each as carefully recounted and compelling to read as the other, whether it is the drama of murder or the composition of a photograph.
From there, the narrative jumps forward in time and space, following Bill to California and elsewhere, and it is not immediately apparent that both the love and the crime introduced in early years in Cottonwood will end up bringing Bill full circle, concluding his time back in Kansas in a most satisfactory manner.
The style and tone of the book reminded me both of _McCabe and Mrs. Miller_ and _Deadwood_, with a realism that is as gritty as it is well-researched, challenging simplistic representations of late nineteenth-century culture and morality without collapsing into an equally reductive caricature of the "wild west." As someone with an interest in the nineteenth century, I appreciated the subtle historical references and details that added richness to the narrative and demonstrated the careful research that must have been conducted to produce it. But the book would be equally appealing to those without any historical background or interest in historical fiction, the characters being so well-wrought and the narrative so engaging. I'm looking forward to reading _Hop Alley_ next!
February 21, 2017
A very different genre than I'm used to reading but I absolutely loved it! A witty, peculiar and dark story that I was quickly drawn into!
September 6, 2014
In contrast to his debut novel, “THE ICE HARVEST” (and its not-so-memorable film adaptation directed by the late Harold Ramis), Scott Phillips's COTTONWOOD doesn’t span just 24 hours in one character’s misbegotten life. The novel is credible historical fiction tackling 1872-90 in Kansas and a diverse cast of frontier types.
Autodidact saloon owner and photographer Bill Ogden is miserably bound “in matrimony with a dolt” (p15) and scrambling for both enriching economic opportunities and new sex partners. Luckily, he is invited to partner with entrepreneur Chicagoan Marc Leval who is intent on making Cottonwood the boomtown terminus of Texas cattle trails. Leval also has a very attractive wife. A major subplot in the saga of building up a wide-open frontier town is a fictionalized version of actual crimes attributed to The Bloody Benders, a band of depraved homesteaders who prey on guests staying overnight at their farm/inn. Historically, the Benders’ run-down farm may have been the bloody killing-ground for two dozen hapless travelers.
COTTONWOOD strongly reminds me of Pete Dexter’s DEADWOOD and WELCOME TO HARD TIMES by E.L. Doctorow in its dark tone and lack of romanticism. Bill Ogden is a selfishly opportunistic anti-hero who readily pulls his pistols and doesn’t deserve the lucky breaks he gets--but he has an absorbing story to tell and some remarkably entertaining associates. Moreover, instead of Doctorow’s "Bad Man from Bodie" or Dexter’s “Crooked Nose” Jack McCall, Scott Phillips offers the reader two-bit shootists, lynch mobs, disastrous weather, venal civic boosters and a tribe of creepy “Dutch” bushwhackers who, historically, were America’s first known serial killers.
Autodidact saloon owner and photographer Bill Ogden is miserably bound “in matrimony with a dolt” (p15) and scrambling for both enriching economic opportunities and new sex partners. Luckily, he is invited to partner with entrepreneur Chicagoan Marc Leval who is intent on making Cottonwood the boomtown terminus of Texas cattle trails. Leval also has a very attractive wife. A major subplot in the saga of building up a wide-open frontier town is a fictionalized version of actual crimes attributed to The Bloody Benders, a band of depraved homesteaders who prey on guests staying overnight at their farm/inn. Historically, the Benders’ run-down farm may have been the bloody killing-ground for two dozen hapless travelers.
COTTONWOOD strongly reminds me of Pete Dexter’s DEADWOOD and WELCOME TO HARD TIMES by E.L. Doctorow in its dark tone and lack of romanticism. Bill Ogden is a selfishly opportunistic anti-hero who readily pulls his pistols and doesn’t deserve the lucky breaks he gets--but he has an absorbing story to tell and some remarkably entertaining associates. Moreover, instead of Doctorow’s "Bad Man from Bodie" or Dexter’s “Crooked Nose” Jack McCall, Scott Phillips offers the reader two-bit shootists, lynch mobs, disastrous weather, venal civic boosters and a tribe of creepy “Dutch” bushwhackers who, historically, were America’s first known serial killers.
May 18, 2009
It took me a while to get into this book. Bill Ogden, a rough and tumble homesteader and bar owner in a small Kansas town, leads us through the tumultuous era of early life on the prairie, splitting his decision making between a ruthless self-reliance and business aptitude and his desire for female company (to put it much more delicately than he does).
We read this book for my mystery book club and it was interesting in that the mystery is a sideline to the character of the town. Ostensibly, the murders committed by the notorious Bender gang are the centerpiece of the story, but Ogden finds himself wrapped up in a whole different kind of trouble as well.
Most interesting about the book was Ogden’s profession as a photographer. Phillips weaves the photography–of dead people and animals, of moments of atrocity and beauty–throughout the book and you get a sense of the technology’s tenuous place in the early days of America. There’s also a scene pregnant with meaning in which Ogden stumbles upon a greenhouse whose owners used old photographic glass for the roof of the building, leaving ghostly images staring down at folks in the house.
Worth reading for its picture of old-time America and its characterizations, if you can get past the halfway point of the book.
We read this book for my mystery book club and it was interesting in that the mystery is a sideline to the character of the town. Ostensibly, the murders committed by the notorious Bender gang are the centerpiece of the story, but Ogden finds himself wrapped up in a whole different kind of trouble as well.
Most interesting about the book was Ogden’s profession as a photographer. Phillips weaves the photography–of dead people and animals, of moments of atrocity and beauty–throughout the book and you get a sense of the technology’s tenuous place in the early days of America. There’s also a scene pregnant with meaning in which Ogden stumbles upon a greenhouse whose owners used old photographic glass for the roof of the building, leaving ghostly images staring down at folks in the house.
Worth reading for its picture of old-time America and its characterizations, if you can get past the halfway point of the book.
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