I've previously read book #1 "Sin Killer", and book # 3 "By Sorrow's River".
When I got this Berrybender Narratives collection of all four books I decided to read all four in order. It ended as a good approach to reread the two from before.
This is great historical fiction and Lonesome Dove is one of my McMurtry favorites. All that I've read by him have been excellent.
So much of this Berrybender collection could be analyzed. English vs American, male vs female, marriage fidelity, violence, sexuality, brutality...
The contrasts of English nobility and the rawness of the American mountain people, including the Native American indigenous, is highlighted. The well educated English family is mean spirited, rude, and not self reliant, where as the native Americans and Americans are very comfortable with the struggles of surviving the wild plains, hunting, finding water, fighting, etc.
The English noble woman are mouthy and are frustratingly irritating females to both the Indians and mountain men. The Indian/mountain women take care of the domestic life on the trail and in camp by doing their share of work to survive and keep talk to a minimum. Many, of the educated characters throughout the stories use their philosophical and existential knowledge and ultimately die. To survive this ancient wilderness world, it is near useless education, and becomes more like a weakness.
That said, Lord Berrybender, his daughter Tasmin are main characters whose spirits are so forceful they keep the story glowing with hot steam. Mountain man, Jim Snow, the "Sin Killer" is more like the blazing fire to the Berrybender's or anyone else that riles his solitude mood.
These unpredictable stories connect, travel the unpredictable trails, and end with a sad satisfaction to have lived some life in the 1830's wild America.