This is another out of print Rex Benedict that shouldn't be. You smile, laugh out loud, and fall in love with the characters. This is a great pick me up when the chips are down. A book to be loved by kids of all ages!

"Brothers, I wish that God would give me and entire forest of these Junipers." Brother Juniper is one of the eleven monks, Little Brothers, living frugally in the Little Portion of Assissi with St. Francis. Given the nickname "God's Joculator" by St. Clare, Brother Juniper's only weakness was giving everything away to anyone in need. This weakness, compounded by Brother Juniper's kindness and devotion, lead him to adventures, including giving away the silver altar bells to a poor old woman to giving away his own robe to a poor man. The monks of the Little Portion learn to leave few things lying around, lest Brother Juniper give them away. So great is his kindness and devotion that the Devil conspired to have Brother Juniper executed. Again, Brother Juniper's reputation manages to save him from that sentence. The religious nature of this book should not deter anyone from enjoying the adventures of Brother Juniper, who exemplifies the precious qualities of heart-felt compassion and innocent simplicity. I thought it was a lovely book when I first read it at age 10. Reading it again as an adult, I can see how different and better the world could be with a "forest of these Junipers".

This book is one of the funniest ever! Years ago, when I drove my latency-aged children across country, we had the book in the car, and to avoid sibling conflict on the long road trip, I had my daughter read it aloud. It's one of my most treasured memories. It has everything: Treasure, bad guys, good guys (Indians), clever kids who win the day. The publisher needs to get its head examined for not keeping it in print.

Arizona Slim tells the story as if he's chatting to you, and the misspellings help a lot. While reading you feel like you're in the book, with him. All the characters make you seem very close to them, and they are hilarios in their ways, language and actions. Their names are enough! For people who dont like long, slow moving book this is the one. Fast moving, interesting, original and above all funny. The book has a quality that you can't describe, it's so good. Really, whoever you are, you MUST read it.

As with the other two people who have reviewed this book, I was introduced to it by my father. I very much enjoyed listening to this story. In the 20 years since, I have read this book several times - my copy is now ragged! I have also enjoyed reading this book to young people while working as a day care provider. There is enough mischief and mayhem, enough sneaky twists, and enough action to keep your attention. The language is, at times, poetic, at other times just plain funny. It is truly a crime that this book is not in print. I want to send a copy to my eleven year old half-sister, but don't want to give mine up!

Carrying on from "Good Luck Arizona Man", Benedict takes us on another ramble through a West that's filled with crazy characters, humor, action, and poetry (but not in a girly way). This is another one to share with your children and friends, truly delightful. The real West may never have been like this, but this is the way I wish it (still) was.