A Narrative Of the Life Of David Crockett By Himself

by David Crockett

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Genres: History, Memoir, Nonfiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 1987

About the author

aka Davy Crockett

Colonel David Stern Crockett was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the popular title "King of the Wild Frontier." He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo. His nickname was the stuff of legend, but in life he shunned the title "Davy" and referred to himself exclusively as "David".

Reviews

[Chloe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this book with every fiber of my being. Technically, a DNF because I didn't read the last chapter, but in the version I read, the last chapter was not written by David Crockett and was written after his death.

[Peter Vik · Rating 5 out of 5]

While not a riveting narrative, this book is a wonderful read. Davy Crockett was no literary giant. His narrative is a simple, factual narrative. Though written by himself, the tale is not outlandish, as so many other tales about him are. Everything he writes has an air of credibility. He does not overplay his part in the Red Sticks War but presents himself as another man in the bunch. If his narrative emphasizes anything great about himself, it is his prowess as a hunter. This could be exaggerated, but the detail in which his records in an offhanded way suggests that it was not. He particularly enjoyed hunting bears, and these hunts are described in so much detail that it borders on boring, again giving an air of credibility. Crocket’s true heroism lay in politics. He was willing to oppose Andrew Jackson, and particularly his “Indian Relocation Act,” when no one else had the courage to do so, and when doing so risked ending Crocket’s own career and reputation. His time in Washington was spent as a man of integrity, which was as rare in his own day as it is in ours. Davy Crockett was a childhood hero of mine, and later an adulthood hero for different reasons. I greatly enjoyed reading his narrative.

[Violet Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book that much; I read it for school. I will say however that it wasn’t the most boring thing I’ve read. David Crockett had some humor and great story telling skills.

[John Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Davy Crockett embellishes a remarkable list of events that made up a unique and meaningful life. In this autobiography, written in 1834, two years before he fought and died in the Battle of the Alamo, he admits that he only had one year of formal schooling, and this is evident in his weak grammar and spelling. But these deficiencies are more than made up for by his wonderful similes, such as "like the foolish jackdaw, that with a borrowed tail attempted to play the peacock."

Mr. Crockett makes several references to Andrew Jackson, who was a general in the War of 1812 in which Crockett also served. Of course, General Jackson narrowly lost the presidential election of 1824, but won the elections of 1828 and 1832, and was president most of the time that the author served in Congress.

Mr. Crockett seems to have an amazing memory for the military campaigns and the bear hunts that he was involved in and he shares many details of these events with his readers. Frequently in describing events that did not involve Andrew Jackson, he is still able to make fun of Jackson's policies and peculiarities. One example occurs in Chapter IX, when he was recovering from malaria, and admitted that he could "easily have been mistaken for one of the Kitchen Cabinet, I looked so much like a ghost." So, in reading through the author's pre-political life, the reader anticipates that the chapters dealing with his years in Congress will have some detailed reasoning for why he did not respect the President or agree with his policies. Unfortunately, this does not happen. The author passionately defends his right and duty to vote his conscience, but he does not explain why he conscientiously opposed Mr. Jackson.

[Aimee S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Sarahtar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy it, but I would have enjoyed it far more if I had any idea what much of his slang and colloquial references meant.

[Grace Metcalf · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was eh