Cowboys Are a Separate Species

by Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator), John R. Erickson

A collection of articles that appeared in the Dallas Times-Herald and The Livestock Weekly between 1977 ansd 1985.

Genres: Nonfiction

95 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

Reviews

[Shelley Alongi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun to read. I thought it was a lighthearted portrayal of a very hard job. When Andi was in the first story I thought wow that is going to be one hot summer and I just thought about how I like to stay in with the air conditioning and so I don’t really think I would be fit for ranch life. But it’s a nice read and I am sure it burns a lot of calories. Some of the essays were on harmless subjects like children and their propensity or their natural attraction to toys, but maybe especially two toilets and beer cans. I bet you he hadn’t quite read the study on children and their obsessions with toilets at the beginning of their exploration days. The studyhadn’t been published yet who knows. This book is 25 years old at It was published when I was in hi school and I remember reading about it in college. I liked the story on tax reform. I don’t think there’s a really good time to make taxes payable so whatever season you get would be harmful to the economy. I enjoyed the nice short read on a cool Saturday morning in a spring in North Texas.

[Catherine Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may use one or two of the chapters in this fun collection of cowboy stories as model texts for personal narratives.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is by the same author who writes the "Hank the Cowdog" books, which are big favorites in our home. (We love the audio books he does also, because he does voices for all the characters, and even sings!)
Erickson collected articles he wrote for various magazines and newspapers and published them in this book. They are worth reading. If you are familiar with ranching in the northern Texas panhandle, then you'll get a good chuckle out of reading about what OTHERS have done that you might have also done in the past. If you are not familiar with the ranching life, then prepare to enjoy a window view on the difficulties and joys of life out in the weather every day surrounded by cranky machinery and crazy cows and surly horses.

[Dixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geared more for young adults and adults but totally funny and fun to read.