Kelton is the premier western fiction writer of our time. Slaughter is very historically accurate and a thrill to read. The "Cowboys and Indians" that so many of us played when we were children becomes real in this novel.
The slaughter of the American Bison is a real tragedy of American history. Kelton describes the scene of the bison lying dead on the ground while skinners cut off their skins to sell. This book will make you think about the careful use of our natural resources instead of exploiting them to the fullest like the buffalo hunters did.
A very good read. I highly recommend this book to all western fans.

Elmer Kelton has written another very good book. It is about the slaughter of the buffalo by hide hunters. Kelton writres so you feel like you are there. You can just see the country, the plains, mountains and valleys, the buffalo running. It is all so clear. This is about how people lived at that time. It is about Cephus Browder and his daughter Arletta, who does a man's job but has the feelings of a woman. Colonel Damon Gregar and his sorry son Farrell Gregar. There are times I would liked to have shot Farrell myself. Jeff Layne, who I guess is the hero. But he is a humble one. Sully, who is a hero in my openion. Nigel Smithwick, know as English to one and all. How he becomes one of the people of the west. An last but not least Crow Feather and his fellow Indians. How they were badly mistreated and the life they had. A good read. The last few pages will cause chills to go up your back, or at least it did mine. If you like westerns with out a lot of bang, bang heros or ugly words you will like this book.

Elmer Kelton is the most honored western sriter who ever lived. Novels like Slaughter are the reason why. The story is about buffalo hunters on the high plains of what is now the Texas panhandle. Anyone who has spent time in this part of the country should enjoy the story, as well as any lover of western literature. As always, Kelton writes of country he loves (West Texas) and histroy he has thoroughly researched. I would also recommend Kelton's sequal to Slaughter, The Far Canyon as a five star book.

Story of Frank Claymore, Texas cattleman, and the settling of America's western frontier. It spans roughly fourty years, beginning during the Civil War, and subtly shares morality lessons throughout. It paints generational change, both on a personal level and that of greater society's mindsets and needs. Touching and epic, it isn't monumental. In barely three hundred pages, Elmer Kelton takes the reader on a fascinating ride through the fight for and taming of West Texas land as seen through the life of Frank Claymore. The story has an understated tone, yet tugs emotions at deftly plotted moments. Kelton writes to the beat of the human heart. His characters are so real, they could be your neighbors, your family, yourself. I saw a bit of Claymore in myself and am not proud to admit that fact. Claymore isn't a typical hero. He's a rough, difficult, keep-your-emotions-in-check business man. He has high expectations of himself, is a tireless worker, and expects the same of every one else. He's an "A" personality to the nth degree. He has few, but extremely loyal, friends. They're loyal because he is to them. Because he had proven to be a decent, though contentious man, who would put his life on the line and keep it there. Kelton keeps the breadth of this epic to a comfortable size by alluding to many events and stories rather than expositing first hand on every scene. Most of the story is told in flashback sequences which work well with the style Kelton used to tell this tale. By the end of the book, you understand Claymore enough to admire him and feel deeply sorry for him. It's a story of pride, determination, want, and humanity's stoic, unrelenting nature. Elmer Kelton is a writer with tremendous talent. He's a journalist who doesn't write like one. He's loaded with imagination and Stand Proud is one of finer efforts. I didn't give it five stars is because the book didn't take my life over to the degree of being compelled to read it in one sitting. That is a rareity for me to do, so, the books that compel me that way deserve five stars. Stand Proud deserves four and a half.

I had read a lot of Kelton books and if I remember right they have all been pretty good. "Stand Proud" is one of the best. It is the story of Frank Claymore. A man who has nothing but his love for a woman. Does he get the woman?? NO way. This make him a bitter man. The story takes him from the Civil War, to fighting Indians to building a hugh cattle ranch. He finally gets married to another woman but is unable to tell her his true feelings. The story line is very good. Lots of action and true to life cowboy adventures. He is brought before a Judge and jury for killing a man. He did not do it but he cannot make anyone believe he did not. He is now an old man and not in good health. The book goes back and forth between the courthouse and his life as he lived it. The ending is great and very good. Kelton writes so in your mind you can see the valley he calls home. Would like to be there myself. If you like stories about the west of long ago and the hard times people had, you will like this book. A very good western read.

I have had the good fortune to read most of Elmer Kelton's books, however, "Stand Proud" has somehow eluded me until just recently. I have often said that, in my humble opinion, "The Man Who Rode Midnight" was Kelton's finest. Now, I'm not so sure.

An impressive pictorial tome--for sure. "Texas" by Laurence Parent is an impressive pictograph of the Lone Star State. Parent is an acclaimed and accomplished photographer whose lenses have found some rather enchanting shots. With an impressive--and dramatic--essay by Elmer Kelton, the book is more than just "coffee table" subject matter. This volume shows National Geographic and Architectural Digest quality reproduction of its photos. A real treat. Thematically, however, Parent doesn't seem to have a real pattern for his photos, rather they appear as they strike his fancy. But no matter. Each picture is worth far more than a thousand words! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Hiking Texas is *the* guide to Texas backpacking and hiking trails, bar none. The guide is short on pictures (get Parent's Official Guide to Texas State Parks for a more photo-rich book), but long on the history, character, geology and wildlife of some of Texas' best-loved trails, as well as some of its lesser-known ones.

Parent is a accomplished writer, conservationist, hiker and photographer, and he brings all talents to bear on his works. If you want to get the most from your Texas hikes, this is the book that should be in your pack!

This book is a visual stunner, published by a graphics company that took pains to get the colors right. Whether he's pointing his lens at wildlife or city life, buildings or byways, Parent turns an artists eye on the places in Texans' hearts.

This book is a wonderful treatment of the few remaining cattle barons. It provides depth of coverage through interviews with residents of a number of ranches and sends the reader on a journey to the Texas plains.

UNFORTUNATELY, I DID NOT GET MY COPY FROM AMAZON.COM. I WAS FORTUNATE HOWEVER, TO GET AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY AT AN ANITQUE STORE. THE BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFULLY ILLISTRATED. A DEFINTE WANT TO BUY!

This book shows the real life of Texas ranchers involved. Wonderful pictures and stories of real families; their dreams and problems that come with owning a ranch in the 21st century. The whole book is a learning tool for anybody interested in a ranchers life.

this book takes place on the plains of Texas. And shows a passage between the "good ol' days" and the new times ahead. Cowboys are pitted against ranch owners, who start to consider the cowboys more like machines then people. The ranchers post a series of "written rules", that in effect greatly angers the cowboys. Most of the Cowboys in response quit or leave their ranch, to join up in a stike. The stike fails to acomplish it immediate goals, but in the long run, creates a ripple that will change everything. This book was well written, and is able to capture the essence of being a cowboy. this book is based on an actual stike that took place in Texas at a similar time. But since the history books only show brief accounts of the strike, and only that of the ranchers view. The Author based the book "loosely" on the facts, so that he could create a more objective view. This is a fantasic book, I recomend you buy it

"The Day the Cowboys Quit" goes down as a red letter day for western fans! This Spur Award winner by Elmer Kelton is one of his all-time best. His hero, Hugh Hitchcock, is caught between the cowboys he ramrods and the rancher he admires. But when the local cattle barons lay down their own brand of range law by refusing to permit working cowboys to own their own cattle, a strike ensues. The result is a gritty and honest story of real men in desperate times that ranks in the Top 10 westerns ever penned. If you like your westerns confrontational where justice is served in unpredictable fashion, you will love "The Day the Cowboys Quit!"

The perceived merits of this book will depend a great deal on the critical standards the reader brings to it. Aficionados of the oat-burner genre will likely find it a notch above the general fare. More literary tastes will find it wanting. It is not nearly as elevated a book either thematically or stylistically as the afterword by Don Graham would suggest. That said, this is a book of some notable achievement in character definition and to a lesser extend action. Nonetheless, much of the plot is telegraphed and overdeveloped. Relationships between characters, especially the romantic relationships, are shallow and predictable. The book seems to be written for a formula audience taking a step upward. Literature is yet a step beyond.
Kelton clearly loves his theme of the Old West (and by extension all frontiers) disappearing around the ones who love it best as the modern world edges in. He also loves his old stalwarts of the vanishing world, Hewey Calloway, Snort Yarnell, and Boy Rasmussen. The other characters largely do not get the loving treatment or snippets of telling detail that make them as knowable and well-developed as the good old boys. Kelton does not lack for descriptive ability, but comes nowhere near someone like Cormac McCarthy in his novels with a western setting, or even a Larry McMurtry. Kelton clocks in somewhere around a good episode of "Gunsmoke."

The Good Old Boys takes the reader into the world of the early century cowboys that lived and worked on their horses. The men who were top in their field only to see their field melting away. I totally enjoyed every page, and when I saw the snobbish review of an elitist reviewer who said "Aficionados of the oat-burner genre will likely find it a notch above the general fare. More literary tastes will find it wanting. It is not nearly as elevated a book either thematically or stylistically as the afterword by Don Graham would suggest." I simply thought that poor person just doesn't understand! This work by Elmer Kelton depicts a time, a place, and a voice that many may not understand, and will not appreciate. I think that poor soul should not be reviewing "oat-burning genre" but those who live near the land will either remember or learn about another time. Seldom do you find such an original and wonderful story as "The Good Old Boys".

Elmer Kelton is in top form with "The Good Old Boys," a book I'll always remember for its remarkable characters and unusual story. Hewey Calloway struggles with the arrival of automobiles and technology... not unlike the struggle some of us have today with computers and a changed world.

Elmer Kelton could not write a bad book, and The Bitter Trail is no exception. Fine, fine writing. My only criticism is the fact that he uses a lot of full sentences of SPanish without translating them. For those who don't read Spanish, it would be tough! As the first reviewer said, he is a good replacement for L'Amour, only better. Another great read is ANYTHING by Kirby Jonas, whom critics call the New Louis L'AMour. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading his stuff, pick some up. He's another L'Amour/Kelton, and a surefire winner. Kelton and Jonas ought to make a great combination together, Kelton writing about Texas and Jonas writing about everywhere else!

"Bitter Trail" is well researched in true Kelton fashion. Historical fiction at its best. Kelton's day job as writer for the Cattleman's Weekly sustained him long enough to become the best Western Author of this decade. A true replacement for the void left with Louis L'Amour's death. The storyline is a page out of history, but Bitter Trail contains believeable characters and TEXAS PRIDE.

If the author of this book is "the greatest Western writer of all time", then it is time to leave the prairie. Seldom have I read a book so absolutely without highs or lows, of such flat descriptions that even a battle with the Comanches makes you yawn. While the characters have gnarled hands, black paint in their face and say 'ye god, they are absolutely two-dimensional. And the language! "Yonder come the yellow-legged soldiers". Where did he find that one? Some pony movie from the thirties? His typewriter must have run out of apostrophes by now.

Please, please don't pay any attention to that last reader. I don't know what genre he reads, but it is apparently not western. Elmer Kelton is one of the best western writers alive. This was a great example of his work.

I used to play The Virginian on television for nine years with many great actors. I read the work of many writers, and there are very few as good as Kelton for realism and grit. The only man who can match him is Kirby Jonas, whose books I record on audio. They call Jonas the New Louis L'Amour. But as far as I'm concerned, and I've seen this written elsewhere by other reviewers, you don't need any other writers than Kelton and Jonas. Give the Buckskin Line a chance! You won't be sorry. Then try Death of an Eagle, by Kirby Jonas.

Elmer Kelton is great. That's all that really needs to be said. Every book he's ever written has been good, even though he'll humbly tell you the first ones weren't that good. He is far more believable than Louis L'Amour, who I grew up reading. His descriptive powers may not be quite as great, but he makes up for it. If you like Kelton and L'Amour, also check out Kirby Jonas, whom critics call the New Louis L'Amour. I think the time will come when he will be the name readers of the western seek out!

Let me begin by saying that this is a very typical historical fiction novel. You take a real place, real events, and then weave the characters in. Kelton, who sets most of his work in Texas during this time period, produces a book that his fans will love.

What is strange with this book is the time and place chosen -- the site of the worst attrocity of the Texas War for Independence. And yet it works. Kelton's Buckalew brothers are solid characters, and will certainly appeal to most readers. Teresa, the book's love interest, is appropriately enticing.

If there is one problem with the book, it is that Kelton makes the romance seem too unattainable. This is especially true in light of the fact that so many Tejanos were active supporters of Independence, and indeed were leaders in it. Furthermore, the selection of Goliad for the backdrop is disconcerting -- the tragedy to come is almost too overpowering for those who know Texas history. But the key word here is "almost," for that is Kelton's gift.

Much as the improbable romance and impending tragedy of TITANIC appealed to millions, so, too, does this story.

Thirty years after the Texans defeated Santa Anna's Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto, the area in far Southwest Texas betwen the Nueces river and the Rio Grande was still a virtual battleground between Texans and Mexicans. Texans claimed the area by virtue of the treaty ending the conflict with Mexico, and Mexican settlers claimed the area because the land had been in their families for generations. As usual, Kelton brings a great sense of place and local dialogue to this novel. The settings and people around which the action takes place are, in many instances, drawn directly from the pages of Texas history.

Lanham Neal, a Confederate vetran wounded in his first and last battle against the Yankees, had finally settled in as "caporal" at the small ranch run by Griffin Daingerfield and his daughter Zoe. While Lanham, Zoe, and some ranch hands were away from the ranch house rounding up and branding their cattle, Mexican guerillas crossed the border, killed Griffin Daingerfield and others, and burned the ranch buildings to the ground. Neal found himself in the middle of the conflict. He must balance his priorities between his love and loyalty to Zoe, her insistence on revenge for the death of her father, and his own conscience. Eventually Captain L.H. McNelly and his small company of Texas Rangers enter the scene with orders to bring law and order to the territory regardless of the price in lives and property and the action excalates.

This novel is part of a series of "Tales of Texas." Anyone reading this book will gain an interesting insight into this violent time in Texas history.