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Bugle Ann #1
The Voice of Bugle Ann
A tale of murder and the finest hunting dog ever bred in rural Missouri. We include The Voice of Bugle Ann in The Derrydale Press Foxhunters' Library as a testament to one of the finest pieces of foxhunting fiction ever written.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1935
2 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
MacKinlay Kantor
228 books66 followersBenjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel
Andersonville
Kantor was born in Webster City, Iowa, in 1904. His mother, a journalist, encouraged Kantor to develop his writing style. Kantor started writing seriously as a teen-ager when he worked as a reporter with his mother at the local newspaper in Webster City.
Kantor's first novel was published when he was 24.
During World War II, Kantor reported from London as a war correspondent for a Los Angeles newspaper. After flying on several bombing missions, he asked for and received training to operate the bomber's turret machine guns (this was illegal, as he was not in service).
Nevertheless he was decorated with the Medal of Freedom by Gen. Carl Spaatz, then the U.S. Army Air Corp commander. He also saw combat during the Korean War as a correspondent.
In addition to journalism and novels, Kantor wrote the screenplay for Gun Crazy (aka Deadly Is the Female) (1950), a noted film noir. It was based on his short story by the same name, published February 3, 1940 in a "slick" magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. In 1992, it was revealed that he had allowed his name to be used on a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood Ten, who had been blacklisted as a result of his refusal to testify before the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) hearings. Kantor passed his payment on to Trumbo to help him survive.
Several of his novels were adapted for films. He established his own publishing house, and published several of his works in the 1930s and 1940s.
Kantor died of a heart attack in 1977, at the age of 73, at his home in Sarasota, Florida.
Kantor was born in Webster City, Iowa, in 1904. His mother, a journalist, encouraged Kantor to develop his writing style. Kantor started writing seriously as a teen-ager when he worked as a reporter with his mother at the local newspaper in Webster City.
Kantor's first novel was published when he was 24.
During World War II, Kantor reported from London as a war correspondent for a Los Angeles newspaper. After flying on several bombing missions, he asked for and received training to operate the bomber's turret machine guns (this was illegal, as he was not in service).
Nevertheless he was decorated with the Medal of Freedom by Gen. Carl Spaatz, then the U.S. Army Air Corp commander. He also saw combat during the Korean War as a correspondent.
In addition to journalism and novels, Kantor wrote the screenplay for Gun Crazy (aka Deadly Is the Female) (1950), a noted film noir. It was based on his short story by the same name, published February 3, 1940 in a "slick" magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. In 1992, it was revealed that he had allowed his name to be used on a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood Ten, who had been blacklisted as a result of his refusal to testify before the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) hearings. Kantor passed his payment on to Trumbo to help him survive.
Several of his novels were adapted for films. He established his own publishing house, and published several of his works in the 1930s and 1940s.
Kantor died of a heart attack in 1977, at the age of 73, at his home in Sarasota, Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 27, 2021
As I started reading this book, I realized I had read it a long time ago. I had thought I had remembered the ending, but was pleasantly surprised when I found out I had remembered it wrong.
Very nice story.
Pretty quick read. My copy was a little book with big margins. Thick pages, guess that is how they made them in 1935. Give me books over a kindle version any day. (Books in audio form are different if you have a great reader, especially with a nice accent.)
I know I gotta rate the book with stars to let people know how much it worth your time, and should you search out this book versus another book I would recommend maybe you should read some of the other classics first, but when you have the time, include this one in your reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it so that it rates 5 stars, but as I would not say it is one of my top favorite books on dogs, so I guess I will rate it lower but only from comparison. In my list in excel I will rate it 4.5, in Goodreads I will give it a 4, but only to distinguish it from books on dogs that are even more so my favorite.
Here is an excerpt from ‘The Voice of Bugle Ann’ that I especially liked:
“And from that night rose the sprout of a legend which spread itself over the whole county, and farther than that. It was the legend of a white dog – lean, like hounds of the Spaulding line – who bugled her way through the brush at night, who ran with her head high, calling and hunting for the master who had been carried away from the hills he loved.
They said she ran at the head of a silent pack in which there were thirty-four dogs, all the great and noble sires who had galloped those ranges before the Civil War. There were the hounds into Missouri when Daniel Boone came, great sword-mouthed brutes who could pull down a deer if they wanted to. But they all ran silently – their feet made not even a whisper in the driest leaves of last year, and their baying was not the kind which ordinary people could hear. Only if you were about to die, you might hear them crying all at once.” - MacKinlay Kantor, "The Voice of Bugle Ann"
Very nice story.
Pretty quick read. My copy was a little book with big margins. Thick pages, guess that is how they made them in 1935. Give me books over a kindle version any day. (Books in audio form are different if you have a great reader, especially with a nice accent.)
I know I gotta rate the book with stars to let people know how much it worth your time, and should you search out this book versus another book I would recommend maybe you should read some of the other classics first, but when you have the time, include this one in your reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it so that it rates 5 stars, but as I would not say it is one of my top favorite books on dogs, so I guess I will rate it lower but only from comparison. In my list in excel I will rate it 4.5, in Goodreads I will give it a 4, but only to distinguish it from books on dogs that are even more so my favorite.
Here is an excerpt from ‘The Voice of Bugle Ann’ that I especially liked:
“And from that night rose the sprout of a legend which spread itself over the whole county, and farther than that. It was the legend of a white dog – lean, like hounds of the Spaulding line – who bugled her way through the brush at night, who ran with her head high, calling and hunting for the master who had been carried away from the hills he loved.
They said she ran at the head of a silent pack in which there were thirty-four dogs, all the great and noble sires who had galloped those ranges before the Civil War. There were the hounds into Missouri when Daniel Boone came, great sword-mouthed brutes who could pull down a deer if they wanted to. But they all ran silently – their feet made not even a whisper in the driest leaves of last year, and their baying was not the kind which ordinary people could hear. Only if you were about to die, you might hear them crying all at once.” - MacKinlay Kantor, "The Voice of Bugle Ann"
April 3, 2014
Many years and many years ago,when I was a teenager, The Voice of Bugle Ann was on the bookshelves of my parents home. It was originally published in 1935. When I left home to go to college, I took the book with me and through the years it also sat on my own book shelves. Sometime over the last 20 or more years I finally read the book and I do remember being moved emotionally by the book. Somewhere it was finally lost in a move or a cleanup...who knows? So this is a cherished memory book from my younger years, one that inspired me, spoke to me and which I remember with joy. I definitely plan on trying to find a copy and reread the book. As an addendum, I come from a family that hunts (but not fox hunting) and we spend a lot of time in the Canadian forests. My son also raises registered dogs. we have always had a lot of dogs in our family. So it is fairly obvious why this book would have appealed to me.
February 2, 2019
This novella, about a foxhound with a beautiful baying voice, is nice regional writing about the hills of Missouri some years after the Civil War. The war and its aftereffects stay in the background, but explain why the older men spend their evenings listening to their dogs tracking foxes (not to kill though, just to hole them up, so they can do it again another night). Spring Davis, an eighty-year-old veteran, loves the foxhound Bugle Ann, and when he assumes that his nasty neighbor has killed her, kills him instead and spends three years in prison before being pardoned. It’s a good enough dog story, although I wished that Kantor has developed it more. There’s a sequel, Daughter of Bugle Ann, which I suppose does just that.
June 12, 2022
This is the best hound story I’ve read so far. In the second to the last chapter I was utterly broken asking “Why are stories about hounds so emotionally devastating” …Sounder, Where the red fern grows …I suppose If you’ve gotten to know a hound, you know.
I’m struck by the depth of development of the characters in such a short book. No wasted time in the back stories although some are there. No witty Gilmore Girl style chatter. There is not lengthy stretches of dialogue . I wonder how many unnecessary words the author skillfully cut off this story as he crafted it.
I’m struck by the depth of development of the characters in such a short book. No wasted time in the back stories although some are there. No witty Gilmore Girl style chatter. There is not lengthy stretches of dialogue . I wonder how many unnecessary words the author skillfully cut off this story as he crafted it.
March 29, 2023
A great read; As a houndsman myself (coonhounds) I was able to relate to the themes of this book which include love of the dog, enjoyment of the chase, dedication to the bloodlines and breeding that spans generations. There are other aspects in this book as well; family relationships, love relationships and mistakes that can be overcome with time.
A good read, in fact I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the DVD/black and white movie starring Lionel Barrymore.
A good read, in fact I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the DVD/black and white movie starring Lionel Barrymore.
August 26, 2017
This book had been one of my mother's books. I was going to give it away when I decided to give it a try. I did like it. I was able to enjoy this book after one of the characters stated that they did not kill the fox during the fox hunt. I was surprised that this dog story did include a murder & a surprise twist at the ending.
October 10, 2022
Engaging and heartwrenching
July 22, 2024
3.5, but I rounded up.
October 11, 2014
A much wordier version of this review is available on my blog.
There’s a certain type of person who will enjoy this story. If you think you can get sentimental about a gruff old farmer who affectionately calls his dog his “little lady,” you are one of those people. You also belong to this group if you like James Herriot, BBC sitcoms centered around spunky elderly characters, or the Southern childhood scenes of To Kill a Mockingbird.
And Bugle Ann is worth the read, if only because it will take about an hour of your life at most. It’s a lovely little piece of literature, with great pathos and a bit of a twist ending.
Kantor’s attention to the little details really sells the characters and turns them into believable human beings within just a few short pages. Still, less of a time investment often equals less of an emotional investment. I enjoyed Bugle Ann very much, but I think I will forget it quickly.
Because of this, I’d be interested to check out Kantor’s other books. He was an incredibly talented writer at young age, and, if critics are to be believed, he only got better with time.
Welp. That’s all I really have to say about The Voice of Bugle Ann. It’s just so dang short.
There’s a certain type of person who will enjoy this story. If you think you can get sentimental about a gruff old farmer who affectionately calls his dog his “little lady,” you are one of those people. You also belong to this group if you like James Herriot, BBC sitcoms centered around spunky elderly characters, or the Southern childhood scenes of To Kill a Mockingbird.
And Bugle Ann is worth the read, if only because it will take about an hour of your life at most. It’s a lovely little piece of literature, with great pathos and a bit of a twist ending.
Kantor’s attention to the little details really sells the characters and turns them into believable human beings within just a few short pages. Still, less of a time investment often equals less of an emotional investment. I enjoyed Bugle Ann very much, but I think I will forget it quickly.
Because of this, I’d be interested to check out Kantor’s other books. He was an incredibly talented writer at young age, and, if critics are to be believed, he only got better with time.
Welp. That’s all I really have to say about The Voice of Bugle Ann. It’s just so dang short.
October 10, 2014
I've read this maybe four times over fifty years; it still is moving and thrilling and as far as I know utterly authentic. Prospective readers take note: it is not about tally ho and yoicks fox hunting, but about sitting by a campfire all night listening to hounds chase a fox they are not expected to catch. The dogs are raised for their tracking ability, their endurance and their voices.
I grew up feasting on Albert Payson Terhune, a fun second-rate writer. and have read a lot of stories besides those about dogs and their people. There is not one better than this. The Fireside Book of Dog Stories has Bugle Ann in it.
I grew up feasting on Albert Payson Terhune, a fun second-rate writer. and have read a lot of stories besides those about dogs and their people. There is not one better than this. The Fireside Book of Dog Stories has Bugle Ann in it.
April 17, 2014
I read this book ages ago, while in middle school, and liked it enough to hang onto it all these years. I'm cleaning out my bookshelves and decided to re-read it before passing it on. I don't know if I wasn't in the right mood or if my young mind was more impressionable, but this second time around it did nothing for me.
January 6, 2011
The Voice of Bugle Ann was published in 1935. The vocabulary and voice of the characters reflect the period of time in the backwoods of Missouri where fox-hunting was prevalent. The conclusion offers an interesting twist that the reader may not be expecting.
February 7, 2016
MacKinlay Kantor is an American treasure, and this short book captures a time and place no longer with us, a view of rural Missouri in the 1930's, with farmers huddled around a campfire and listening to the crying of their hounds on the trail of a fox.
April 16, 2010
Short, superb story for dog lovers
March 6, 2014
Her voice was something to dream about, on any night when she was running through the hills.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2013
Nice story about small town neighbors and their love & respect of the forest, fox hunt & hounds.
July 11, 2012
I don't read books about hunting, but it gained a star because the man loved his dogs so much.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews