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The Difference
Set against the sweeping panorama of Arizona circa 1880, this work has many of the surface trappings of a standard western. However, from the first shocking realisation that the line between good and evil is being overstepped, the author then begins to dismantle the American cowboy myth.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
122 people want to read
About the author
Charles Willeford
85 books425 followersCharles Willeford was a remarkably fine, talented and prolific writer who wrote everything from poetry to crime fiction to literary criticism throughout the course of his impressively long and diverse career. His crime novels are distinguished by a mean'n'lean sense of narrative economy and an admirable dearth of sentimentality. He was born as Charles Ray Willeford III on January 2, 1919 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Willeford's parents both died of tuberculosis when he was a little boy and he subsequently lived either with his grandmother or at boarding schools. Charles became a hobo in his early teens. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age sixteen and was stationed in the Philippines. Willeford served as a tank commander with the 10th Armored Division in Europe during World War II. He won several medals for his military service: the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and the Luxembourg Croix de Guerre. Charles retired from the army as a Master Sergeant. Willeford's first novel "High Priest of California" was published in 1953. This solid debut was followed by such equally excellent novels as "Pick-Up" (this book won a Beacon Fiction Award), "Wild Wives," "The Woman Chaser," "Cockfighter" (this particular book won the Mark Twain Award), and "The Burnt Orange Heresy." Charles achieved his greatest commercial and critical success with four outstanding novels about hapless Florida homicide detective Hoke Moseley: "Miami Blues," "New Hope for the Dead," "Sideswipe," and "The Way We Die Now." Outside of his novels, he also wrote the short story anthology "The Machine in Ward Eleven," the poetry collections "The Outcast Poets" and "Proletarian Laughter," and the nonfiction book "Something About A Soldier." Willeford attended both Palm Beach Junior College and the University of Miami. He taught a course in humanities at the University of Miami and was an associate professor who taught classes in both philosophy and English at Miami Dade Junior College. Charles was married three times and was an associate editor for "Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine." Three of Willeford's novels have been adapted into movies: Monte Hellman delivered a bleakly fascinating character study with "Cockfighter" (Charles wrote the script and has a sizable supporting role as the referee of a cockfighting tournament which climaxes the picture), George Armitage hit one out of the ballpark with the wonderfully quirky "Miami Blues," and Robinson Devor scored a bull's eye with the offbeat "The Woman Chaser." Charles popped up in a small part as a bartender in the fun redneck car chase romp "Thunder and Lightning." Charles Willeford died of a heart attack at age 69 on March 27, 1988.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 4, 2025
I was surprised that Willeford would write a Bonanza-style western: Young cowpoke who got run off his land by a powerful rancher is helped by the town blacksmith. But my judgement was hasty. As I should have expected, the story turned out to be about a hotheaded, drygulching, backstabbing psycho gunfighter.
Gunfighter's point of aim has moved a few inches up over time. Tactical operators nowadays aim for center mass. But back in the old days, the gut shot was preferred. Willeford educated me on the advantages of a 45 to the solar plexus.
Originally published in 1971 as The Hombre from Sonora. I read the 1999 retitled hardcover which is still available as new-old-stock.
Gunfighter's point of aim has moved a few inches up over time. Tactical operators nowadays aim for center mass. But back in the old days, the gut shot was preferred. Willeford educated me on the advantages of a 45 to the solar plexus.
Originally published in 1971 as The Hombre from Sonora. I read the 1999 retitled hardcover which is still available as new-old-stock.
August 22, 2025
Bizarre Western from one of the greats of Hardboiled Lit.
Annoyingly talky and slow paced featuring one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve ever encountered in a Western.
I bought this from an online bookseller for $25. Glad to own a copy but this will be my first and last time reading it.
Great dust jacket, though.
Handsome first edition, 1999, Dennis McMillan publications.
Annoyingly talky and slow paced featuring one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve ever encountered in a Western.
I bought this from an online bookseller for $25. Glad to own a copy but this will be my first and last time reading it.
Great dust jacket, though.
Handsome first edition, 1999, Dennis McMillan publications.
October 3, 2022
This, one of his later novels, represents a change in theme for Willeford. I won’t say ‘genre’ as I think he would hate that, he regularly tried to wrong foot his reader who may set out thinking the novel adhered to some sort of pattern or norm.
So, in a bookstore you may find this in the ‘western’ label rather than much of the rest of his work, coming under ‘crime’. But strictly that is not correct either.
Johnny Shaw, an orphaned teenager, now at 19, is swindled out of his inheritance and seeks retribution and justice. At the start of the novel he is on the run from killing a notorious Reardon brother in what he claims was a fair fight, though the rest of the Reardon family does not see it like that.
Willeford creates a character for whom we initially have sympathy, but that gradually erodes away as the novel proceeds, until by the end we see him as lacking any morals, sense of honour or mercy.
This is what Willeford does so skilfully in many of his books, and what he is best loved for. But here, the underlying stereotype of the ‘western’ along with its macho imagery and its treatment of native Americans, in general terms rather than from Willeford’s pen, I think it works less well, and even seems a little dated.
So, in a bookstore you may find this in the ‘western’ label rather than much of the rest of his work, coming under ‘crime’. But strictly that is not correct either.
Johnny Shaw, an orphaned teenager, now at 19, is swindled out of his inheritance and seeks retribution and justice. At the start of the novel he is on the run from killing a notorious Reardon brother in what he claims was a fair fight, though the rest of the Reardon family does not see it like that.
Willeford creates a character for whom we initially have sympathy, but that gradually erodes away as the novel proceeds, until by the end we see him as lacking any morals, sense of honour or mercy.
This is what Willeford does so skilfully in many of his books, and what he is best loved for. But here, the underlying stereotype of the ‘western’ along with its macho imagery and its treatment of native Americans, in general terms rather than from Willeford’s pen, I think it works less well, and even seems a little dated.
September 22, 2010
An early Willeford that was originally published in 1971 under the title Hombre from Sonora then reissued under this title which was Willeford's original preference. Difference, according to the Dictionary of American Slang, cited on the dust jacket, is defined as "the advantage or that which gives an advantage to an opponent, as a gun or a club.
Johnny Shaw is being chased by Preston "Dad" Reardon, who had been a friend of Johnny's father, because Johnny had killed Dad's son Onyx. Johnny's father had died leaving him a valley ranch, one that had been grazed under the loose rules of the west which didn't believe in filing deeds. Johnny's dad thought otherwise, filed his deed, and left the ranch to Johnny in his will. Onyx wanted the ranch and came to claim it, offering a better than value price. When Johnny refused, Onyz started shooting his chickens and goats, so Johnny "shot him out of the saddle. Being only gut-shot, Onyx is writing on the ground with his guts falling out. Not wanting his friend to suffer, Johnny shot him in the back of the head and hauled him off to town and the sheriff (who owes his job to Dad Reardon, as to most of the other ranchers and cowbiys. The sheriff advises flight, even though, one could argue, he is innocent of murder. At least that's Johnny's first story.
Johnny seeks shelter from Jack Dover, the town blacksmith, of a neighboring community who hides him. We learn of these events from Johnny who tells his side of the story to Jennie, Jack's daughter. (Can't have a western without a daughter, right?) Then wanted posters appear as well as additional evidence, and Johnny's story has to change. Onyx was shot in the back -- of the head first, then in the belly.
The ostensible truths quickly become much less apparent as Dover tells Johnny about Johnny's father, a colonel in a southern regiment who had left the field of battle, made his way to Vera Cruz, and made a life for himself back in the west after the war. Dover had been a sergeant in his regiment, but learned a two things about men during hard fighting during the war: "First, men are more like sheep than gods"they always huddle together even when spreading out is more advantageous; and secondly, the "only men to win the war are the ones who are still alive when it's all over. . . and a man is more important to himself than any cause can possibly be." And then we learn Dover is not just a town blacksmith.
The book reminds me of some of the finer examples of "noir"," especially Jim Thompson. Johnny, an unlikeable little sociopath, treats those who are kind to him with nothing but suspicion and repays kindness with ugliness, attributing base motives where none may have existed. Of course, being in the first person we see the world only through his eyes.
Johnny Shaw is being chased by Preston "Dad" Reardon, who had been a friend of Johnny's father, because Johnny had killed Dad's son Onyx. Johnny's father had died leaving him a valley ranch, one that had been grazed under the loose rules of the west which didn't believe in filing deeds. Johnny's dad thought otherwise, filed his deed, and left the ranch to Johnny in his will. Onyx wanted the ranch and came to claim it, offering a better than value price. When Johnny refused, Onyz started shooting his chickens and goats, so Johnny "shot him out of the saddle. Being only gut-shot, Onyx is writing on the ground with his guts falling out. Not wanting his friend to suffer, Johnny shot him in the back of the head and hauled him off to town and the sheriff (who owes his job to Dad Reardon, as to most of the other ranchers and cowbiys. The sheriff advises flight, even though, one could argue, he is innocent of murder. At least that's Johnny's first story.
Johnny seeks shelter from Jack Dover, the town blacksmith, of a neighboring community who hides him. We learn of these events from Johnny who tells his side of the story to Jennie, Jack's daughter. (Can't have a western without a daughter, right?) Then wanted posters appear as well as additional evidence, and Johnny's story has to change. Onyx was shot in the back -- of the head first, then in the belly.
The ostensible truths quickly become much less apparent as Dover tells Johnny about Johnny's father, a colonel in a southern regiment who had left the field of battle, made his way to Vera Cruz, and made a life for himself back in the west after the war. Dover had been a sergeant in his regiment, but learned a two things about men during hard fighting during the war: "First, men are more like sheep than gods"they always huddle together even when spreading out is more advantageous; and secondly, the "only men to win the war are the ones who are still alive when it's all over. . . and a man is more important to himself than any cause can possibly be." And then we learn Dover is not just a town blacksmith.
The book reminds me of some of the finer examples of "noir"," especially Jim Thompson. Johnny, an unlikeable little sociopath, treats those who are kind to him with nothing but suspicion and repays kindness with ugliness, attributing base motives where none may have existed. Of course, being in the first person we see the world only through his eyes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2019
One of the more obscure Willeford titles, a western, is quite well-written. It shows Willeford at the top of his game, written in 1971, the same year as The Burnt Orange Heresy, before he inexplicably stopped writing novels for 13 years.
The Difference, Willeford's original title, is much better than the original publisher's The Hombre from Sonora. "The Difference" is the common theme running through out the book. The difference between two gunfighters can be that one is ready to die and the other is not.
The Difference, Willeford's original title, is much better than the original publisher's The Hombre from Sonora. "The Difference" is the common theme running through out the book. The difference between two gunfighters can be that one is ready to die and the other is not.
November 6, 2025
Simple, short western from one of my favourite crime writers that I just couldn't love because the hero is such a lying, vile, backstabbing, despicable piece of shit. Other than that it's a great read :-)
September 2, 2020
It really shouldn't have taken me 2 days to read this, not because it's so short, but because it's so gripping. This appears to be another fine novel (in this case novella) of the sort narrated by my old friend, the unreliable narrator. Johnny Shaw is on the run from the Reardon family, having killed the youngest Reardon in a matter of self defense over a land claim. Now he must either defend himself by going on the offensive against the Reardon family, or flee to far away towns where he wouldn't be recognized. Along the way he meets a blacksmith who teaches him the art of gunfighting, and a Mexican Don who offers him shelter and help.
Johnny, even in his own narration comes off as self centered, impulsive, and without any empathy. Everyone who has a kind word for him, or offers him any assistance is treated with suspicion and disdain. As the book continues we see that his tactics for survival all involve ambushing and catching people in traps or unawares. It's an interesting when you catch yourself partly through the book noticing that Johnny Shaw may not be the paragon of virtue he presents himself as, and rather is the proverbial tiger by the tail. At one point, after refusing assistance from a character who offers him help, he notes that he's made another enemy for life (from his perspective) and will add him to the list of his enemies.
It's a very well written novella that just breezes on by. Willeford has a knack for describing landscape, and even better describing people. One description of a retired gunfighter is absolutely perfect, from the hat he's wearing (a sombrero with the brim cut off) to the slouch (so no one imagines he's a man of skill) just is pitch perfect for the novel. He also includes other touches, missing in many other westerns (dangers of falling off a horse-quite gruesome, how to modify a gun to win a gunfight) that just add to the authentically "there" character of Johnny Shaw. Johnny may be a paranoid menace, but he's a believable one....I do hate the book cover of my edition though
Johnny, even in his own narration comes off as self centered, impulsive, and without any empathy. Everyone who has a kind word for him, or offers him any assistance is treated with suspicion and disdain. As the book continues we see that his tactics for survival all involve ambushing and catching people in traps or unawares. It's an interesting when you catch yourself partly through the book noticing that Johnny Shaw may not be the paragon of virtue he presents himself as, and rather is the proverbial tiger by the tail. At one point, after refusing assistance from a character who offers him help, he notes that he's made another enemy for life (from his perspective) and will add him to the list of his enemies.
It's a very well written novella that just breezes on by. Willeford has a knack for describing landscape, and even better describing people. One description of a retired gunfighter is absolutely perfect, from the hat he's wearing (a sombrero with the brim cut off) to the slouch (so no one imagines he's a man of skill) just is pitch perfect for the novel. He also includes other touches, missing in many other westerns (dangers of falling off a horse-quite gruesome, how to modify a gun to win a gunfight) that just add to the authentically "there" character of Johnny Shaw. Johnny may be a paranoid menace, but he's a believable one....I do hate the book cover of my edition though
February 3, 2016
The Difference was originally titled The Man From Sonora when it was first published 45 years ago, and I must confess the original title was far more evocative than the revised one. I didn't really care much for it. It's the tale of a kid who shoots his childhood friend over a land claim, and the kid is such a bad liar he changes his story several times, leading us to wonder what really happened. The plot is very colorless with equally colorless characters, and you'd do better watching an old Kirk Douglas horse opera like Man Without A Star instead.
Willeford was dismissive of this novel and I can see why. He never really gets any firm footing in the narrative. It feels shaky all the way through, alternating between overly chatty chapters to others with mind-numbingly expositions on the prairie topography which last pages upon pages, with no real cowboy action. All I'm going to say is that he had much better stuff up his sleeve after The Difference. For completists only.
Willeford was dismissive of this novel and I can see why. He never really gets any firm footing in the narrative. It feels shaky all the way through, alternating between overly chatty chapters to others with mind-numbingly expositions on the prairie topography which last pages upon pages, with no real cowboy action. All I'm going to say is that he had much better stuff up his sleeve after The Difference. For completists only.
August 13, 2022
A short but detailed Western adventure that packs in a lot for its short length. I enjoyed this very much.
October 23, 2023
"A man who wears two pistols must answer to challenges, and I knew there would be some."
Johnny Shaw is on the run after shooting Onyx Reardon in the back of the head. The killing was arguably done in self-defense, even if Johnny had been too quick to indulge his itchy trigger finger. Onyx had been trying to run him off his homestead…
Now Dad Reardon and his surviving sons Curt and Cabel are hunting Johnny through the badlands of southern Arizona intent on taking both his life and his land…
Johnny is assisted by Jake Dover, aka the outlaw Blackie Clark, who saves his life, gives him guns, and teaches him how to shoot. He counsels that out here beyond the borders of civilization, a man must learn to choose between fighting for what he wants or running "like a rabbit" the rest of his life…
This is not one of Charles Willeford's better novels. At only 160 pages, it still feels twice as long as it needs to be. There are slow stretches of inaction punctuated by existential ruminations on justice and violence. There is little of the quirky black humor the author is usually known for. The publisher's blurb says the novel aims to deconstruct the western mythos, but this does not belong in the same conversation with other postmodern Westerns of the 1960's like Welcome to Hard Times and Horseman, Pass By.
This is simply a pulp novel with no good guys. Despite Johnny's obvious flaws, readers are tempted at first to view him as a sympathetic victim, but it is difficult to maintain this attitude after Johnny kills a Native American for sport: "Waiting to die, he had taken me for Mr. Death himself. And he was trembling with fear. Inasmuch as he was going to die soon anyway, I decided to practice my draw on him…"
He also eventually betrays his mentor Jake Dover to keep himself out of jail.
By the end of the novel Johnny forsakes his ranch and embraces the life of the hired gun. He may have survived his ordeal, but he is figuratively dead on the inside. The title of the novel comes from a passage in the final chapter:
"I knew that I would be faster than Curt, and deep down inside me I knew why, too. Curt and Cabel wanted to live. They had everything to live for: a huge ranch, and two pretty girls anxious to marry them. Nobody had ever wanted to keep on living any more than those two men at that moment. But I wanted to die, and knowing that I wanted to die meant that I would not be killed by either one of them. That was the difference between us."
This book was originally published as The Hombre from Sonora by Will Charles in 1971. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Charlie Kevin, who did an admirable job enlivening the rather bland material.
2.5 stars.
Johnny Shaw is on the run after shooting Onyx Reardon in the back of the head. The killing was arguably done in self-defense, even if Johnny had been too quick to indulge his itchy trigger finger. Onyx had been trying to run him off his homestead…
Now Dad Reardon and his surviving sons Curt and Cabel are hunting Johnny through the badlands of southern Arizona intent on taking both his life and his land…
Johnny is assisted by Jake Dover, aka the outlaw Blackie Clark, who saves his life, gives him guns, and teaches him how to shoot. He counsels that out here beyond the borders of civilization, a man must learn to choose between fighting for what he wants or running "like a rabbit" the rest of his life…
This is not one of Charles Willeford's better novels. At only 160 pages, it still feels twice as long as it needs to be. There are slow stretches of inaction punctuated by existential ruminations on justice and violence. There is little of the quirky black humor the author is usually known for. The publisher's blurb says the novel aims to deconstruct the western mythos, but this does not belong in the same conversation with other postmodern Westerns of the 1960's like Welcome to Hard Times and Horseman, Pass By.
This is simply a pulp novel with no good guys. Despite Johnny's obvious flaws, readers are tempted at first to view him as a sympathetic victim, but it is difficult to maintain this attitude after Johnny kills a Native American for sport: "Waiting to die, he had taken me for Mr. Death himself. And he was trembling with fear. Inasmuch as he was going to die soon anyway, I decided to practice my draw on him…"
He also eventually betrays his mentor Jake Dover to keep himself out of jail.
By the end of the novel Johnny forsakes his ranch and embraces the life of the hired gun. He may have survived his ordeal, but he is figuratively dead on the inside. The title of the novel comes from a passage in the final chapter:
"I knew that I would be faster than Curt, and deep down inside me I knew why, too. Curt and Cabel wanted to live. They had everything to live for: a huge ranch, and two pretty girls anxious to marry them. Nobody had ever wanted to keep on living any more than those two men at that moment. But I wanted to die, and knowing that I wanted to die meant that I would not be killed by either one of them. That was the difference between us."
This book was originally published as The Hombre from Sonora by Will Charles in 1971. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Charlie Kevin, who did an admirable job enlivening the rather bland material.
2.5 stars.
February 28, 2024
What this book is not (or all the reasons I generally loathe Westerns)
- panoramic
- lyrical
- gritty
- mythical
- legendary
- honorable
- redemptive
- puffed up pageantry
Technically, this is a Western, but it also isn't. The 'hero' didn't get the memo. Automatic win for me.
Just a by-the-way tale about an uninteresting person, who has no compelling reason to wreak havoc.
This one won't leave a lasting impression, but I loved it (coz I'm loyal that way).
So a conscious death wish could be a shortcut to glory? It's been a few hours and I still don't fully get it. I like books that make me work.
- panoramic
- lyrical
- gritty
- mythical
- legendary
- honorable
- redemptive
- puffed up pageantry
Technically, this is a Western, but it also isn't. The 'hero' didn't get the memo. Automatic win for me.
Just a by-the-way tale about an uninteresting person, who has no compelling reason to wreak havoc.
This one won't leave a lasting impression, but I loved it (coz I'm loyal that way).
They had everything to live for: a huge ranch, and two pretty girls anxious to marry them. Nobody had ever wanted to keep on living any more than those two men did at that moment. But I wanted to die, and knowing that I wanted to die meant that I would not be killed by either one of them. That was the difference between us;
So a conscious death wish could be a shortcut to glory? It's been a few hours and I still don't fully get it. I like books that make me work.
April 15, 2025
A good lot of writing about horse riding and shooting. But between all the cottonwood trees, saguaro and sand I see little of Willeford himself peeking through. It's there though. Almost like he wrote this to check the genre off a bucket list. Or to make a quick buck. Probably the latter.
October 13, 2024
A dark walk into the mind of a budding gunman,
Willeford's foray into western literature,
is not anything like an old Zane grey romp.
Cold, harsh and bitter.
Willeford's foray into western literature,
is not anything like an old Zane grey romp.
Cold, harsh and bitter.
November 15, 2024
That’s one hell of a way to look at inheritance, I’ll say.
June 11, 2024
primary takeaway: Every facet of Willeford canon -- in a WesternI can’t think of a better director to helm a big screen adaptation of The Difference, than Monte Hellman. Along with The Shooting & Ride in the Whirlwind (1966), and China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)?
> > chef’s kiss! < <
I'm certified-fandom for Corman/Hellman's cinematic adaptation of Cockfighter -- my lone gripe with the finished film is it's plainly obvious Monte Hellman is no fan of the inhumane, outlawed sport; I doubt the Coen Brothers were ever league bowlers, or if George Roy Hill could have ever told you the 5-spot is [the fifth] potential scoring area within a hockey goal (specifically, between the goalie’s legs); But those directors sports features are frequently heralded at the top of their respective Top 5 [genre] Films lists.
Nevertheless, I’d probably still always prefer Hellman’s Cockfighter, over Arthur Penn’s or Sam Peckinpah’s big studio adaptation(s)
…but Terrence Malick or Werner Herzog, or Polly Platt[???]
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aka The Hombre from Sonora; CW's preferred title: The Difference.
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