Two-Gun Bob: A Centennial Study of Robert E. Howard

by Benjamin Szumskyj (Editor), Michael Moorcock, Charles Hoffman (Contributor)

FOREWORD BY MICHAEL MOORCOCK In the one hundred years since his birth, Robert E. Howard's reputation has expanded from a mere pulp writer to a leading figure in the horror, fantasy, and adventure fiction of the 20th century. The virtual creator of the genre of sword-and-sorcery, Howard peopled his tales with such imperishable action figures as Conan the Cimmerian, Solomon Kane, King Kull, and Bran Mak Morn. In recent years, students and scholars have been examining Howard's work with increasing care and precision, placing it within the context of American and world literature. Two-Gun Bob commemorates Howard's centennial with an anthology of thirteen new and reprinted essays on Howard, ranging from Glenn Lord's study of Howard's early amateur press work to Fred Blosser's look at Howard's detective writing; from Charles Hoffman's analysis of Howard's portrayal of character to S. T. Joshi's placement of the Bran Mak Morn stories in the context of Roman history; from Charles Gramlich's psychological study of Howard to Michele Tetro's survey of Howard's poetry. Essays by John Goodrich, Frank Coffman, Lorenzo DiTommaso, Steve Sheaffer, Martin Andersson, Pietro Guarriello, and editor Benjamin Szumkyj discuss many other aspects of Howard's life, work, and thought, presenting a balanced and well-rounded portrayal of the man and the writer, and laying the groundwork for continuing study of this complex and enigmatic writer in the decades to come. With a preface by Michael Moorcock.

Genres: Fantasy

233 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of essays offering a centenary tribute to Texan author Robert E. Howard ( 1906-1936). The critics cover not only Howard's literary works but study Howard himself.
Howard is best known for his stories of Conan but his stories for the "pulps," the pulp magazines, included fantasy, horror, science fiction, historical adventures, westerns, and boxing stories. One essay is about the detective fiction of REH. I think I've read most of his stories but none of his detective ones. Some of those stories feature detective Steve Harrison, who is, unsurprisingly, a Conanesque character, a powerfully built "man of action." And the stories certainly emphasize action. Not regarded as among Howard's best work, his detective stories include one I'd like to find and read-"Graveyard Rats." This is a story that finds Steve Harrison in Texas and getting involved in a Texas feud.
I think it's particularly sad that Howard's life was cut short at the age of 30 (by suicide), as we don't know in which direction Howard's writings would have taken him. It's a good possibility he would have turned to writing more westerns. As Michael Moorcock (a resident of Texas from England) states it in his essay: "I like to think of him (Howard) becoming ...a big enough writer to tell the story of Texas herself, in all her glorious and inglorious larger-than-life reality, maybe doing for Texas what Steinbeck did for California."

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I have an article in this book, on looking at Howard from a Behavioral aspect. I thought it was a pretty decent collection of essays.

[Gene Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of essays. I learned a few things I didn't know.