The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 4: The Adventure Stories

The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour #4

by Louis L'Amour

The fourth volume of Louis L’Amour’s collected short stories features more than forty of the master’s greatest adventure tales in a keepsake edition to cherish for generations. This unique collection gathers stories guaranteed to thrill and delight readers again and again, establishing why Louis L’Amour is truly America’s favorite storyteller.

Louis L’Amour’s tales of adventure cannot be surpassed for sheer storytelling excitement, and they stand as a testament to his legendary appeal. Here are timeless stories of danger and daring, wanderlust and heroism, filled with ordinary men and women facing often insurmountable challenges with courage, dignity, honor–and heart.

Perhaps never before has a single volume contained so many breathtaking from the down-on-his-luck fortune hunter who risks everything to save a diamond-hunting couple walking straight into a jungle massacre to the mystery “hero” aboard a downed commercial plane dangling six hundred feet above certain doom. You’ll trek across the harsh steppes of East Asia with an American widow and her young son among a fierce nomadic warrior people, and you’ll relive a harrowing tale of survival at sea against thirst, madness, and the elements as a common seaman redefines extraordinary courage as simply “doing his job.”

Whether joining an American captain running a cargo ship through Japanese-controlled waters during World War II, only to find his vessel hijacked by traitorous pirates, or marveling at the resourcefulness of a young woman pushed to the limits of endurance as she flees a killer through a primeval forest, these adrenaline-laced tales of mystery, suspense, murder, and survival never let up and will keep your heart pounding long after the final page.

From those numbering a few intense pages to novella-length works, the tales in this action-packed anthology bear all the trademarks of the master’s touch–the historical accuracy, memorable characters, and timeless themes that have earned Louis L’Amour his unique place among American writers.

Genres: Westerns, Short Stories, Fiction, Adventure

672 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2006

About the author

Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".

Reviews

[John Bruni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another outstanding collection of stories from L'Amour. My favorite was "The Diamond of Jeru," which is the perfect example of a jungle adventure. I remember thinking, "Why hasn't someone made this into a movie?" Lo! and behold! Someone actually did make a movie out of it, but it was a made for TV movie in the late 'Eighties, so it probably isn't very good.

There were a lot of stories that I think were at least 99% autobiographical, especially "The Man Who Stole Shakespeare." These aren't even adventure stories. It's all very interesting, especially to those who have also read his autobiography, EDUCATION OF A WANDERING MAN.

Also, it should be mentioned that people mostly think of him as a writer for men. This book actually starts out with a woman as the hero, which was unusual for the time. Take a look at Ponga Jim's crew. It would be perfectly at home today because of so diverse they are. Very unusual, but most people are unaware that L'Amour, considered the Great American Storyteller, was a member of the Communist Party, which explains a lot. It would also explain why Turk Madden worked for the Russians during WWII.

This is a great collection of unusual work from a great storyteller. If you're a fan of L'Amour, you need this book in your life.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An uneven but mostly engaging collection of adventure and war stories ranging from the beginning to the end of L'Amour's long career.

[SamT]

Louis L'Amour's son, Beau, writes in the book's Afterword, this is his favorite of all the volumes in the Collected Short Stories. Although very good, I prefer L'Amour's western stories.
The tales presented here take the reader to such places as China, North Africa, the East Indies, and the jungles of South America. Memorable characters are Ponga Jim Mayo, Steve Cowan, Turk Madden, and Slug Brophy. Some are pilots, some are sailors, and all are tough as rawhide.
The book contains about 45 short stories that took me about nine months to read because I read the short stories when I am between novels.
A favorite story, Author's Tea, which is only four pages long describes a writer, Mr. Dungan, who is enduring a social attended by "women who weren't young". (I suspect Mr. Dungan is L'Amour himself.)
One of the women comments, "You've had such an interesting life, Mr. Dungan! There must have been so many adventures."
"Only the innocent speak of adventure," Dungan says, "for adventure is only a romantic name for trouble, and when one is having 'adventures' one wishes it were all over and he was elsewhere and safe."

[Oleta Blaylock · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been a long time since I have read anything that might be considered an Adventure Story. The stories in the books are set from early in the Great Depression through to the beginning of communism in China. There are a series of stories about different adventurers, Ponga Jim Mayo, Turk Madden and Steve Cowen all are exciting and well written which is no less than I would expect from Louis L'Amour. The stories of these three men are set during World War II. From what I have read of Mr. L'Amour's career these must be the stories he sold to magazines that featured adventure stories, i.e. pulp fiction. Even these earlier stories show that Mr. L'Amour was a talented writer destined to be remember long after his death. I am glad that I found all the Collections of Short Stories that Mr. L'Amour's children have put together for all his fans to enjoy. I look forward to the next collection of short stories.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't sure what the results would be having my favorite western writer tossing about something other than westerns, but I did enjoy this collection so very much. Typical strong main characters fighting it out and in most cases coming out on top. This book went round the world during some interesting times: 20s, 30s, 40s, I think. Flyers and sailers mostly, with mostly hobos and freethinking and freewheeling men, and a few women. Of course, there is almost always the perfect woman nearby.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this to my father who was a huge fan of L'Amour's westerns. When he passed I acquired this and decided to read it to connect to my father. I was quite surprised at how good an author L'Amour was. I expected R.E. Howard and enstead got Hemingway. Looking forward to reading more. Who knows, maybe I'll actually read a western...

[Gail Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

anyone looking for a copy of the book YONDERING will find those stories printed here as well as some others that I had not read before. Many of these stories are stories of his own life either experienced by himself or by people he knew and/or worked with.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another incredible Louis L'Amour book... per usual

[Byron Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different from the usual L'Amour stories.

[Donna Dieckmann]

Amazing stories, I had no idea that Lamoure wrote anything besides Westerns.
These are adventure stories of the era around the Depression plus WW2.

[Rachelle Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty great adventure!

[suresh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Racy stories.

Later half very good. Makes up for earlier stories in this volume. Should have included earlier spread out in the middle.

[Rosemary Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting group of short stories and not a one that you could call a western.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Louis.

[John Boyda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the nautical stories and other semi-biographical stories in this volume but when he got to WWII, I thought the stories read like adventures from a teenaged action stories book. Improbable action and the good guy conquers all. They were dated (I've nothing against dated stories, but in my opinion these did not stand the test of time) and reflected the mores of the time (e.g., the fade out when he gets the girl). Still, others have enjoyed these, so my opinion is just that - my opinion.

[Jacqui H. Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally prefer L'Amour-s western short story collections, but if you are a lover of adventure stories around the WWII era, or adventure stories on the high seas, you'll love this collection. My favorites were the stories and novellas based around the character Ponga Jim Mayo and his escapades with his clandestine shipping career during WWII, with his eclectic colorful crew.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not my favorite Louis L'Amour collection. In fact, it is probably my least favorite, although I do enjoy Turk Madden stories. This collection was a bit darker than most of Louis' writing. Many of them are set in Southeast Asia, South America, or the Pacific. Many are set during or near WWII.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these short stories by Louis L'Amour! They are not westerns, but tell of his life in his younger days, as he roamed the world, working.

Note: This book is almost exactly like his book, "Yondering"!

[Whit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this world adventure compilation of short story series. Couple of really cool lead characters.

[Dan Knorr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 4th volume of Louis L’Amour’s collected short stories moved away from the frontier / westerns of the first three into his “adventure” tales. They weren’t quite at the same level, but there were still several gems here. His WWII characters definitely got formulaic, but I try to keep in mind that these weren’t originally published for a single, 600-page reading. (Also, extra points for the glorious back cover author photo..)

[Annalise · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great collection of short western stories to read. I believe there are 8 books in the set. I started reading these after learning Louis L'Amour was my fathers favorite westerns writer.