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Elmer Mccurdy: The Life And Afterlife Of An American Outlaw
Born 1880. Died 1911. Buried 1977. These are the misadventures of America's most fascinating dead outlaw.
When Elmer McCurdy was shot dead by an Oklahoma sheriff and his posse after a short spree of bungled robberies, he was not laid to rest. Leaning in a corner for a nickel-a-look at the Joseph Johnson Funeral Home, exhibited as a felled outlaw at the sideshows of the Great Patterson Carnival, propped up to illustrate the dangers of marijuana and other vices in Hollywood exploitation movies—Elmer McCurdy became big business. This is his story.
When Elmer McCurdy was shot dead by an Oklahoma sheriff and his posse after a short spree of bungled robberies, he was not laid to rest. Leaning in a corner for a nickel-a-look at the Joseph Johnson Funeral Home, exhibited as a felled outlaw at the sideshows of the Great Patterson Carnival, propped up to illustrate the dangers of marijuana and other vices in Hollywood exploitation movies—Elmer McCurdy became big business. This is his story.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 15, 2024
This sounded like a really interesting book. During the shooting of an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man the production team broke the arm off a mannequin. The problem was it wasn’t a mannequin, it was the embalmed corpse of Elmer McMurdy.
The book then goes on the journey to find out who McMurdy was and how his body found its way into the amusement ride where he was found.
There were parts of this that was interesting but other parts where the author drifted off into other topics. Some sections were more descriptive than it needed to be.
It is an interesting story and I’d worth a read.
The book then goes on the journey to find out who McMurdy was and how his body found its way into the amusement ride where he was found.
There were parts of this that was interesting but other parts where the author drifted off into other topics. Some sections were more descriptive than it needed to be.
It is an interesting story and I’d worth a read.
June 3, 2008
During the filming of the 70's show "Six Million Dollar Man" in an amusement park in California, a camera crew accidentally damaged the arm of what they thought was a stage mannequin, only to discover that it was the mummified remains of a human. Svenvold tells the story of the body when it was alive and known as Elmer McCurdy (perhaps one of the last of the cowboy outlaws of the Ol' West) to Elmer's death and beyond. Elmer actually had a more fascinating time as a dead guy than he ever did alive. This could have been an interesting story. Or, more accurately it IS an interesting story--for a newspaper/magazine article. There's just not quite enough here to sustain even a slim book.
July 26, 2009
Elmer McCurdy was a hobo and a particularly unsuccessful thief, who died in a shoot-out in 1911. His life was one of little consequence. In death though his mummified corpse toured America, taking its place in ever shabbier carnivals.
This tale - whilst interesting - is probably stretched beyond snapping point even in a short book of 240 pages. Svenvold amuses himself with various digressions, which sometimes add colour but at other points become quite tedious (his prose style isn't shy of embracing pretension either). However, for this main, this is an amusing dip into a lost world of macabre Americana.
This tale - whilst interesting - is probably stretched beyond snapping point even in a short book of 240 pages. Svenvold amuses himself with various digressions, which sometimes add colour but at other points become quite tedious (his prose style isn't shy of embracing pretension either). However, for this main, this is an amusing dip into a lost world of macabre Americana.
October 19, 2017
Like many people I felt this book strayed too much from Elmer. Sometimes the author gives background information to the point poor Elmer is entirely eclipsed.
While information about him (especially in life)may be somewhat scarce, I felt that this really weakened the whole narrative. Also, the book refers to a photo of Elmer in death holding a gun...either that picture should have been used or the reference dropped.
Interesting story, needed focus, writing style moderately lacking at times.
While information about him (especially in life)may be somewhat scarce, I felt that this really weakened the whole narrative. Also, the book refers to a photo of Elmer in death holding a gun...either that picture should have been used or the reference dropped.
Interesting story, needed focus, writing style moderately lacking at times.
September 9, 2019
I really wanted to know more about McCurdy, but this book would go pages and pages without mentioning his name. I started skimming. And then super skimming. Entire sections would talk about someone famous and then mention that that person happened to be alive at the same time as McCurdy. Disappointing. I'm going to have to look at databases, I think, to get more info. If anyone knows where to get a copy or link to the BBC documentary, please let me know!
January 15, 2011
Interestingly written tale that winds more around weird people than the outlaw
December 19, 2015
Interesting story stretched to the breaking point with lengthy detours by a writer with delusions of being of New Yorker quality.
June 19, 2018
Ok - admittedly, I gave up on this book with about 85-100 pages to go. I simply couldn't force myself to keep reading every word, and by the point I gave it up, I noticed I was skimming page after page after page to discover an engaging paragraph.
The reason it got three stars instead of two is because the super strong beginning was very engaging. Otherwise it would have been only 2 stars, and I would have given it up only a hundred pages in, instead of two hundred.
The reason it got three stars instead of two is because the super strong beginning was very engaging. Otherwise it would have been only 2 stars, and I would have given it up only a hundred pages in, instead of two hundred.
February 16, 2021
I really wanted to like this but it's so overwritten.
January 20, 2016
I picked this up because it was free and I thought it would be a quirky history book. It was. But it was also hilarious, surprisingly poignant, beautifully-written, and a little heartbreaking.
Elmer McCurdy was a failure in the most American sense of the word. Despite being a trained plumber, he voyaged west across the country in the late 1800's to seek his fortune in the oil fields and mines of the Great Plains. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, so had thousands of other ambitious dreamers,so he had to chase the almighty dollar in a less socially acceptable way. He took up train robbery, at which he proved to be abysmal. In two attempted robberies, his band of outlaws managed to get a few hundred dollars, mostly in change. They did, however, manage to steal two bottles of whiskey, which they used to get hammered before making their getaway.
A posse soon found and shot the sodden McCurdy, which began his surreal and darkly comic journey through the 20th century entertainment industry. If Elmer's life was a microcosm of the dashed ambitions of the 19th century, his death represented the 20th century's knack for transforming the mundane stuff of life into nostalgic and falsified myth.
His postmortem career began with a coroner charging admission for townsfolk to see his embalmed corpse under the auspices of identifying the body. After this coroner was hoodwinked by a couple of carnies, Elmer took on a series of new identities. He traveled the country as a mummified killer and emblem of the Wild West, growing to heroic proportions in the retelling. He would later be billed as the 1000-year old man, his true identity lost for decades. He would be carted along in the entourage for the longest foot race in the history of the country, and used as a lobby novelty during the release of an exploitation film. He became a headliner in a wax museum of crime, and was later installed in a spooky funhouse, mistaken for a dummy. When he was rediscovered during the filming of an episode of the Six Million Dollar Man, he regained the spotlight, being autopsied by the same celebrity coroner as Marilyn Monroe and John Belushi.
When he was finally buried 66 years after his death, he became one of the historical attractions that made Guthrie, Oklahoma a tourist destination of sorts. Today, over 100 years after his death, you can still participate in murder mystery dinners starring McCurdy at the local Stone Lion Inn.
What does this tell us about ourselves and our culture? That people are terrible and willing to place a buck over the dignity of human life? That's no surprise. That we care more about a good story than truth or our fellow humans? Sure. In this very review, the first words that came to me to describe the book were quirky and hilarious. Granted, it was dark comedy, but that didn't prevent my reading experience from being tempered by a dose of disgust and self-loathing.
I guess all this is to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The writing was beautiful, if a bit clunky at times, and Svenvold presents a fascinating and thought-provoking through-line of the end of the American West. If it sounds at all intriguing to you, give it a shot.
Elmer McCurdy was a failure in the most American sense of the word. Despite being a trained plumber, he voyaged west across the country in the late 1800's to seek his fortune in the oil fields and mines of the Great Plains. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, so had thousands of other ambitious dreamers,so he had to chase the almighty dollar in a less socially acceptable way. He took up train robbery, at which he proved to be abysmal. In two attempted robberies, his band of outlaws managed to get a few hundred dollars, mostly in change. They did, however, manage to steal two bottles of whiskey, which they used to get hammered before making their getaway.
A posse soon found and shot the sodden McCurdy, which began his surreal and darkly comic journey through the 20th century entertainment industry. If Elmer's life was a microcosm of the dashed ambitions of the 19th century, his death represented the 20th century's knack for transforming the mundane stuff of life into nostalgic and falsified myth.
His postmortem career began with a coroner charging admission for townsfolk to see his embalmed corpse under the auspices of identifying the body. After this coroner was hoodwinked by a couple of carnies, Elmer took on a series of new identities. He traveled the country as a mummified killer and emblem of the Wild West, growing to heroic proportions in the retelling. He would later be billed as the 1000-year old man, his true identity lost for decades. He would be carted along in the entourage for the longest foot race in the history of the country, and used as a lobby novelty during the release of an exploitation film. He became a headliner in a wax museum of crime, and was later installed in a spooky funhouse, mistaken for a dummy. When he was rediscovered during the filming of an episode of the Six Million Dollar Man, he regained the spotlight, being autopsied by the same celebrity coroner as Marilyn Monroe and John Belushi.
When he was finally buried 66 years after his death, he became one of the historical attractions that made Guthrie, Oklahoma a tourist destination of sorts. Today, over 100 years after his death, you can still participate in murder mystery dinners starring McCurdy at the local Stone Lion Inn.
What does this tell us about ourselves and our culture? That people are terrible and willing to place a buck over the dignity of human life? That's no surprise. That we care more about a good story than truth or our fellow humans? Sure. In this very review, the first words that came to me to describe the book were quirky and hilarious. Granted, it was dark comedy, but that didn't prevent my reading experience from being tempered by a dose of disgust and self-loathing.
I guess all this is to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The writing was beautiful, if a bit clunky at times, and Svenvold presents a fascinating and thought-provoking through-line of the end of the American West. If it sounds at all intriguing to you, give it a shot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2013
In "Elmer McCurdy, The Misadventures in Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw", Mark Svenvold ties together events, big and small, pitching, as it were, his own carnival tent of mysteries offering a look at fascinating curiosities and obscure but highly significant geneologies with Elmer always a part of the pitch.
Elmer McCurdy is not only a plumber, a miner, a soldier, an outlaw and a mummified corpse (among other things) but also 'one from the morgue'; an 'object for the subject of staring'.
The book is a fascinating romp through the beginnings of the Modern Age, a book filled with facts that make for a panoply of 'eureka moments' throughout.
You cannot help but hear the Carnival Barker belt out his ballyhoo beckoning the audience to draw closer. You will puzzle at the riddle as he speaks of reckless robbers, crafty inventors, pyrotechnicians and the coincidental happenings and chance meetings of the magnificent and the mediocre.
Enter the great migration and stake your claim in the Oklahoma Land Rush. Marvel at the properties of nitroglycerin and the incredible detective work of the world's greatest forensic scientists.
Jog along in the greatest foot race ever staged across a continent.
Drop your dollar at the flap and enter, if you dare.
It is an offer of more than just a single exclamatory "O".
Elmer McCurdy is not only a plumber, a miner, a soldier, an outlaw and a mummified corpse (among other things) but also 'one from the morgue'; an 'object for the subject of staring'.
The book is a fascinating romp through the beginnings of the Modern Age, a book filled with facts that make for a panoply of 'eureka moments' throughout.
You cannot help but hear the Carnival Barker belt out his ballyhoo beckoning the audience to draw closer. You will puzzle at the riddle as he speaks of reckless robbers, crafty inventors, pyrotechnicians and the coincidental happenings and chance meetings of the magnificent and the mediocre.
Enter the great migration and stake your claim in the Oklahoma Land Rush. Marvel at the properties of nitroglycerin and the incredible detective work of the world's greatest forensic scientists.
Jog along in the greatest foot race ever staged across a continent.
Drop your dollar at the flap and enter, if you dare.
It is an offer of more than just a single exclamatory "O".
February 29, 2016
I'm going to begin by saying that I'm distantly related to Elmer McCurdy. He was a cousin of my great-great grandfather, I think. My grandfather used to tell my cousins and me the story of Elmer McCurdy, but he couldn't remember all of the information. So when I discovered this book, I thought that I had hit the jackpot because I could finally fill in all of the holes that my grandfather couldn't remember. And this book did give me some extra information... Eventually. The author of this book is terrible. He uses so much padding you could make a more than quadruple-padded king-sized bed. Two chapters aren't even about Elmer McCurdy. He's just mentioned in passing. In fact, if you cut out all of the padding that this author depended on to get this book to the 11 or 12 chapters that it is, you'd have a story that was probably about 10-20 pages in length. This book is awful, terrible, horrendous, a disaster, a joke. See Mr. Author, I have a thesaurus, too. And that last line makes sense if you've read the book. I definitely DO NOT recommend this book, especially if you're looking for more info about poor Elmer.
August 22, 2007
A crazy story about how some dead-end ne'er-do-well 100 years ago died, and then ended up as a celebrity, a movie star, a freak show exhibit, travelled the country, retired to a los angeles fun house, and then had a state funeral as a relic from some glorious, nonexistent past. I learned a whole lot from reading this book about many little crevices of american cultural history that only this story could unify, and only a poet could weave into something exciting and beautiful. Highly reccomended to all.
March 22, 2015
When a friend of mine moved to South Korea for a year or two, I suggested she loan me and a few of her friends the books she wanted to keep but didn't want to move with. She took me up on the offer, and I wound up with this one. It is pretty meandering, but it's a good read and the author does a good job of telling the story. Word of warning: try not to read this during meals ... any time the corpse is described, it's pretty rough.
January 10, 2018
10/20. An Oklahoma train robber shot dead in 1911 is found on the set of the six-million dollar man in 1976. An investigation leads to a 1920's carnival, the transcontinental footrace of 1920's from Los Angeles to New York & the B-movie industry of the 50's & 60's to a haunted house. Truth is definitely stranger than fiction some times.
April 28, 2009
Very Strange book about gentlemen who wanted to be an outlaw and ended up a figure in ahanuted house ride in California and was discovered while filimg a 6 million dollar man episode. Book starts with this and then follows Elmer from early beginnings. Highly entertaing
December 11, 2015
Well-written and informative.
August 30, 2013
One of the most unbelievable works of non-fiction ever read! File under: so bizarre, it has to be real!
January 31, 2014
Fascinating story of the most unusual journey man - like a twisted version of Forrest Gump. The chapter about his final burial is worthy of a film in it's own right
December 23, 2015
Fun to read about someone who may or may not be slightly related to you.
March 5, 2013
Very interesting story. Serviceable writing. Worth reading.
August 13, 2013
Interesting slice of Gothic Americana.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews