Wyatt Earp Speaks!

by Wyatt Earp, John Richard Stephens

Wyatt Earp Speaks!

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Westerns, True Crime

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Polly Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

I am a history buff. Loved all the great research put in by the writer. Loved it had fun reading this book..

[Bryce]

This book is really good for fans of cowboys or history in general. In goes into great detail about Wyatt Earp and his posse. Would recommend.

[Tod Hilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Richard Stephens does his best to tie together the real story of the gunfight at OK Corral and its participants with information from several disparate sources. While the events are interesting, unfortunately, it feels disjointed in its delivery. Perhaps I'm jaded by Hollywood's popular renditions of the gun slinging hero.

It's an interesting collection of articles and letters written by Wyatt Earp, along with several articles and interviews of the man by others. The author clearly denotes the few that are from questionable sources, describing why they lack credibility. He includes them to provide a sense of the publicity that Earp had to live with for the rest of his life after the famous gunfight. Stephens has clearly done his homework and put a lot of effort towards telling the truth of what happened.

The author includes letters by and interviews with a few notable compatriots of Wyatt's: Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, and even an elderly woman claiming to have been Big Nose Kate 40 years later. They're all entertaining.

There are pictures of Wyatt and the others throughout the book. It was a nice touch, giving us faces to go with the names.

Worth noting, my hardback edition was missing pages 96-160. I turned page 95 only to land on page 33 for the second time. Pages 33-95 were printed in two sections, back to back, and then I had to start at page 161. My copy was printed by Fall River Press of Sterling Publishing in 2015.

[Nicholas Fury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going into this book, my only knowledge about Wyatt Earp came from Hollywood and film such as Tombstone and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. I'm sure Earp aficionados are able to appreciate some of the subtleties of the book more, nonetheless, a novice like myself was able to get into the book and I did come away with a greater understanding of the scope of the legend of Earp and the famous shoot-out in Tombstone. The book's greatest appeal I feel lies in its wonderful presentation, a real testament to the publisher Fall River Press. Everything from the use of fonts, to the pictures, and the footnotes and sidebar quotations are very easy to follow and presents a modernly stylish look to an old subject. Although most of the book focuses on the Tombstone events, quite a bit illustrates later events in Earp's life such as his boxing referee days and his association with early motion picture star Tom Mix. Reading the primary sources really gives the reader a feel for how people spoke in the late 1880s and 90s, making the story come alive in a unique way. Its always fascinating to see how misinformation and lies spread so quickly through the press and defamation of character was as widespread as the lawlessness one sees depicted in old westerns. This book provides a very vivid portrait of the 'Old West' as it really was.

[Gusto Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Wyatt Earp history buff, so this publication forced me to buy it. Lots of good stuff, including revelations about what really happened in Tombstone, Arizona in the big shoot out. However, less than a third of it was about Wyatt Earp. Several chapters focused on Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. It was an enjoyable read, but perhaps should have been titled something more indicative of the actual contents.

Gusto Dave

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of letters, newspaper articles, interviews, and journal entries arranged and annotated by a noted Earp historian.

As a fan of the film Tombstone, it was both interesting and exciting to read just how accurate the events portrayed by Kurt Russell & co were. However, certain subjects are covered multiple times throughout the book, which grew repetitive. Thus the three star rating.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this thoroughly, but then I have been an avid reader of all things related to The Earps and Doc Holliday ever since the "Tombstone" movie. I particularly like seeing the original source material.

[Chuck Trimble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. Felt a bit clunky in places with some odd formatting to fit in newspaper articles; still not difficult to read though.

Points out some inaccuracies and Hollywood liberties taken in one of my favorite movies, but overall an enjoyable read.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't put this down! I've learned alot in just the first couple of chapters!

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had some interesting articles in it. Some not so interesting. I love the old west and the stories of the people and their true life adventures, but this one could not hold my attention.

[Bernard Schaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book filled with facts, interviews, and more. Contains a transcript from a case Earp testified in about the OK Corral. It's worth the ticket price for that alone.

[Liv]

Very technical and repetitive but I loved it nonetheless!

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well documented and interesting, but organized rather haphazardly.