The Shootist

by Glendon Swarthout Narrated by J.P. O'Shaughnessy

Overview

The Shootist is John Bernard Books, a man of principle and the only surviving gunfighter in a vanishing American West. He rides into El Paso in the year 1901, on the day of Queen Victoria's demise, there to be told by a doctor that he must soon confront the greatest Shootist of all: Death himself. 

In such a showdown against such an antagonist, J. B. Books cannot win. Most men may end their days in bed or take their own lives, but a mankiller has a third option, one which Books decides to exercise. He may choose his own executioner. As the word spreads that the famous assassin has reached the end of his rope, an assortment of vultures gathers to feast upon the corpse -- among them a gambler, a rustler, a clergyman, an undertaker, an old love, a reporter, even a teenager. Books outwits them, however, by selecting the where, when, who and why of his death and writing in fire from a pair of matched Remingtons the last courageous act of his own legend. The climatic gunfight itself is an incredible performance by an incredible man, and by his creator, Glendon Swarthout.

Editorial Reviews

|Los Angeles Times

“A taut, leathery, masterful tale.”—Los Angeles Times

Wall Street Journal

"Many cowboys suffer prostate problems after years spent in the saddle, and aging gunfighter J.B. Books, the hero of this novel, is among them—a man with a fatal cancer. Determined to die in a way that would give meaning to his life, he plans a suicidal shootout against El Paso's three bad guys, to take place in the town’s best saloon. The crystalline descriptions of the bar violence are memorable—as are the details of death—and delivered in unflinching prose. But there is more to Books than killing. He is also a man given to sitting in his bedroom poring over newspaper ads, social items and excerpts that describe the recent death of Queen Victoria and the plans for her death mask—rich additions to this arresting portrait of an old gunslinger in his final days and at the end of an era."—Wall Street Journal

Times of London

“Chilling . . . grisly . . . extremely exciting to the very end.”—Times of London

Arizona Republic - Robert Shotwell

“A classic—an incredible tale about an incredible man by an incredible author. . . . It’s a fascinating tale, and once started, is difficult to leave until the final sentence has been absorbed.”—Arizona Republic

Ronald Reagan

“A treasured addition to my library.”—Ronald Reagan

Los Angeles Times

“A taut, leathery, masterful tale.”—Los Angeles Times

Wall Street Journal

"Many cowboys suffer prostate problems after years spent in the saddle, and aging gunfighter J.B. Books, the hero of this novel, is among them—a man with a fatal cancer. Determined to die in a way that would give meaning to his life, he plans a suicidal shootout against El Paso's three bad guys, to take place in the town’s best saloon. The crystalline descriptions of the bar violence are memorable—as are the details of death—and delivered in unflinching prose. But there is more to Books than killing. He is also a man given to sitting in his bedroom poring over newspaper ads, social items and excerpts that describe the recent death of Queen Victoria and the plans for her death mask—rich additions to this arresting portrait of an old gunslinger in his final days and at the end of an era."—Wall Street Journal

Arizona Republic

“A classic—an incredible tale about an incredible man by an incredible author. . . . It’s a fascinating tale, and once started, is difficult to leave until the final sentence has been absorbed.”—Arizona Republic

— Robert Shotwell

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169667257
Publisher:	Books in Motion
Publication date:	12/01/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	842,723

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