May There Be a Road

by Louis L'Amour

Spirited American stories gathered together for the first timeFrom the coasts of Brazil to the borders of Tibet to the very heartland of America, May There Be a Road gathers ten previously uncollected stories that capture the magnificent scope and sense of epic adventure that epitomize Louis L'Amour classic fiction.In these vivid settings L'Amour takes us into the pivotal moments when lives are altered forever, when men and women face a deadly enemy, find a kindred spirit, or confront their own mortality.Among the unforgettable characters we meet here are a hard-living, hard-drinking freighter captain whose penchant for flying may change the course of World War II . . .A lonely frontiersman who unexpectedly finds himself the protector of two orphans . . .A boxer who accepts a gambler's payoff and then must fight to redeem himself . . .A detective willing to believe an unproven story in order to discover a painful truth hidden in a small town. And in the title story L'Amour weaves the powerful tale of a young Tibetan khan who leads a band of horsemen on a daring escape across treacherous mountain terrain. At stake is the survival of a people and an ancient way of life.Evoking the American spirit of bravery, pride, adventure, and self-reliance as few writers have, this extraordinary volume proves once again that L'Amour has set a standard yet to be matched.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Short Stories, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Action, Novels

311 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

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

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

3.5/5 total rounded up to a 4 star.
Friend of a Hero • 3/5
May There Be A Road • 4/5
Fighter's Fiasco • 3.5/5
The Cactus Kid • 3.5/5
Making it the Hard Way • 4.5/5
The Hand of Kuan-Yin • 3/5
Red Butte Showdown • 3.5/5
The Ghost Fighter • 3.5/5
Wings Over Brazil • 3.25/5
The Vanished Blonde • 3.25/5

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

May There Be a Road is another in the growing collection of short stories written by Louis L’Amour in his early days. Most of these have been compiled by his son, Beau. As I understand it, this is to be the penultimate collection, with one more to follow. The included stories are clearly less polished than what he wrote in subsequent years, but you can see the unmistakable L’Amour style in them, and they carry the same themes of honor, courage, loyalty, good vs. evil, and unashamed manhood that characterized his later novels. They are a mix of war stories, westerns, and boxing tales, all of which were familiar to Louis L’Amour. For any L’Amour fan, it is worth reading…for others, probably not.

[James Aura · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're curious why Louis L'Amour was one of America's top-selling authors, this book is a good introduction. Louis wrote about everything from Tibetan farmers rebelling against the Chinese Army to boxing scams, rascally cowboys and territory in between. His simple, colorful writing style carried a muscular heft. I found his plots and characters a bit simple, but these were, after all, short stories. His novels are much more developed on all fronts. Overall, I found it a recreational read.

[Mckenzee Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nothing but the mountains lasts forever." -Louis L'Amour, May There Be a Road

Pretty good collection of short stories. The titular one, "May There Be a Road", was my favorite, and I would give it 5 stars. I didn't love some of the stories that centered heavily on boxing, but there were certainly a lot of gems in this collection. Well worth the read and a great way to end my 2025 reading!

[Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories that Louis L'Amour wrote over the years. Some of them were previously published and some were never published.
The title story tells of a young Khan in Tibet who leads members of his tribe over a treacherous mountain pass and a swinging bridge over a deep gorge. I has taken 4 years to rebuild the bridge, during which the tribe was isolated on a high plateau. The first trip over the new bridge is to claim his bride. However, when he arrives at his bride's home, they discover that the Han Chinese had moved in. The military leader wants to find the path over their pass that will lead into India.
Several of the other stories tell about fighters and vividly describe the fights that they make. L'Amour was a prize fighter in his younger days and these stories are particularly descriptive. In "Wings Over Brazil" L'Amour tells about a freighter captain who fights against the Nazi's to try to stop them from taking over Brazil during WWII. Several of the stories are classic "Westerns".
All together a very satisfying collection.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories, with some real gems and one or two weak entries. The variety of characters and settings was enjoyable and shows L’Amour’s versatility.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 2 out of 5]

"May There Be a Road" is a collection of ten L'Amour short stories. Only two of them are westerns but they share L'Amour's standard mix of protagonists exhibiting bravery, self-reliance, character growth, and independence. Still, I was not a fan of most of these; they come across like one of those cast-offs albums an older rock band will issue made up of B-sides that didn't fit an album concept proper.

A Friend of a Hero - an LA private eye named Neil Shannon investigates the accidental death of an old friend.
May There Be a Road - a Tibetan resistance adventure in the Himalayas in the early days of the 1951 Chinese occupation.
Fighter's Fiasco - a semi-humous 1930's-era boxing match with a promoter being hassled by a protection racket.
The Cactus Kid - a young gunslinger is caught up in a tense but fun western adventure surrounding the family of a beautiful young Mexican woman.
Making it the Hard Way - an upcoming boxer gets into a racket when he tries to set up bigger fights and learns some lessons.
The Hand of Kuan-yin - a murder investigation in Hawaii where the victim was found with a pacific-islander totem of the god Kuan-yin nearby.
Red Butte Showdown - a homesteader named Gunthorp protects a kid who is being hassled by a mean range boss about some documents to some supposedly-worthless land.
The Ghost Fighter - another boxing tale; in this one, an upcoming boxer who bears a resemblance to the current champ is hired by the champ's promoters to fight in his stead.
Wings over Brazil - an espionage tale set in Brazil during WWII.
The Vanished Blonde - PI Shannon returns, investigating the disappearance of a rich heiress.

Verdict: Some fun and interesting unpublished L'Amour short stories along with more than a few duds; I enjoyed Fighter's Fiasco and Red Butte Showdown most among these.

Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has multiple short stories and every single one of them is amazing. There was not a story that left me bored or disappointed. The plot of every story was really good too. Louis L’amour is a great author and his writing style is iconic in my opinion, and it never gets old. I could read this book time and time again. This book portrayed the western lifestyle really close to how they do it in the old western movies, and I really enjoyed it. There's also stories that take place in the early 1900’s and those were also very interesting. Overall this book made me like historical fiction a lot more than I did. I give Louis L’amour’s writing credit for that. I highly recommend you give this book a try.

[Kathleen Suess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read L'Amour before finding this book. With a pre-conceived notion of his works being too "manly" and/or aggressively adventurous (whatever that means) I thought it would be better suited to my son. But I decided to read it before I passed it on.
Each morning, I read one story as I ate my breakfast. I found myself looking forward to the unknown worlds he took me to, to the adventures he so skillfully crafts and manages to wrap up into a fascinating short story.
The short story is indeed an art form to be admired.
I felt like I had traveled and been part of each adventure, each foray even, into the world of boxing, or the frontier.
I recommend it. I'll have to read more of L'Amour.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally like short story collections but this one was not it for me, unfortunately. All the stories seemed to run together to me and I would be wondering if I had a misprinted book. There was only one story I truly liked and why I gave it a 2 star rating and that was ‘May There Be A Road’. It was the only unique original story that I wanted more of and kept me reading and thinking there might be another like it. My partner recommended me Lois L’Amour in hopes I’d like him as much as he does I’m definitely thinking maybe don’t try starting off with this. I have to give my brain a bit of a break before trying another of his books.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of less common short stories. Although L'Amour is best known for his US Frontier ("western") only one of these is really in that genre, but the rest is a mix of detective stories, adventure stories, and boxing stories. I haven't ever really liked boxing much as a genre but Fighter's Fiasco was quite good. Overall its a nice slice of early writing by Louis L'Amour.

[Will Dole · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s Louis…

Some are good stories, some are okay. A lot of fight scenes, and his boxing years come through with every punch-and-weave exchange. The good guys win, which I think is part of L’Amour’s massive perennial appeal. It isn’t high art, but something still rings true to the way things oughtta be.

[James Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

01 - collection of short stories: Friend of a hero -- May there be a road -- Fighter's fiasco -- The Cactus Kid -- Making it the hard way -- The hand of Kuan-yin -- Red Butte showdown -- The ghost fighter -- Wings over Brazil -- The vanished blonde. Not published before. Actually quite good.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories of Louis L'Amour and are good stories. I am not a fight lover and his detail is more than I need but his descriptions are very good. He is a great story teller. Good to read. Not sure I will read it again.

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any collection of short stories, some were better than others. I read this collection over a period of about 3 years, so I'm not going to attempt to compare them now. I do prefer his westerns, but I enjoyed these stories for the most part.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Often formulary, this collection of L’Amour’s short stories range from action in Nepal/Tibet to a pre WW2 improbable tale set in Brazil to a LA detective yarn demonstrating the author’s great range. Always a quick pulp type read.

[Jay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are some very good short stories in this collection, I had previously read three of them. This is the reason for my rating. There are several stories about boxers, one from Tibet, and one Pungo Jim in Brazil. The three I read previously are good but repetitive.

[Jason Crow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of L'Amour short stories from literally all over the map. Crime stories, adventure stories about Tibetan khans, survival, it's all in here with the same L'Amour style and excitement.

[Peter Charleston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of short stories by Louis L'Amour.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a garage sale where someone was giving it away.

Kind of a fun read, though the boxing stories all seemed to be the same.

[Terry Yaceyko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collection - not western.
Good read.

[Dale Kueter · Rating 4 out of 5]

These short stories surprised me and proved that Louis L'Amour was more that a writer of western stories. Fun yarns.

[Etta Kaufman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bunch of short stories by author obviously influenced by his life experiences. Many of his characters also from parts of his life.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like L'Amour you will like it. I found the last 2 chapters of the book on his real life the most interesting.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume of stories shows the range of Mr. L'Amour's writing. This volume contains stories that touch WWII, the frontier, boxing, detective stories, and Tibet.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and diverse collection of short stories from a master storyteller.

[M Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'Amour is a master and this is some of his lesser product.

[Barb Ratcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories that Louis Lamour Wrote, but did not publish.

[Jinny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. I skipped the stories about boxing, however.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten previously uncollected stories. Among the characters we meet here are a hard-living, hard-drinking freighter captain whose penchant for flying may change the course of World War II . . . A lonely frontiersman who unexpectedly finds himself the protector of two orphans . . . A boxer who accepts a gambler's payoff and then must fight to redeem himself . . . A detective willing to believe an unproven story in order to discover a painful truth hidden in a small town. And in the title story L'Amour weaves the powerful tale of a young Tibetan khan who leads a band of horsemen on a daring escape across treacherous mountain terrain. At stake is the survival of a people and an ancient way of life.

This collection includes: Friend of a Hero • May There Be A Road • Fighter's Fiasco • The Cactus Kid • Making it the Hard Way • The Hand of Kuan-Yin • Red Butte Showdown • The Ghost Fighter • Wings Over Brazil • The Vanished Blonde