iam_griff's review against another edition
3.0
Born Henry McCarty, Billy the Kid was a diminutive, charming, blond-haired young man who, growing up in New York, Kansas, and later New Mexico, demonstrated a precocious dexterity at firing six-shooters with either hand—a skill that both got him into and out of trouble and that turned him into an American legend of the old West. He was smart, well-spoken, attractive to both white and Mexican women, a good dancer, and a man with a nose for money, horses, and trouble. His spree of crimes and murders has been immortalized in dime westerns, novels, and movies. But the whole story of his short, epically violent life has never been told as it has been here.
I'm glad I enjoyed this book in audio book versus reading as like so many other reviews as it would've been reading a history book & been quite dry. The narrator Mark Bramhall made the book so much more enjoyable with his talents of voices & accents. Having been a child of the '80s & enjoying the movies "Young Guns" & its sequel was all I knew about Billy the Kid. This having been my first Ron Hansen novel I did enjoy what story telling there was. If you have an interest in Billy the Kid I would recommend the audio book over the novel.
I'm glad I enjoyed this book in audio book versus reading as like so many other reviews as it would've been reading a history book & been quite dry. The narrator Mark Bramhall made the book so much more enjoyable with his talents of voices & accents. Having been a child of the '80s & enjoying the movies "Young Guns" & its sequel was all I knew about Billy the Kid. This having been my first Ron Hansen novel I did enjoy what story telling there was. If you have an interest in Billy the Kid I would recommend the audio book over the novel.
castlelass's review against another edition
3.0
According to the author’s acknowledgments, “This is a work of fiction based on fact” of the life of Billy the Kid. It is streamlined, and some people consolidated but stays true to the Kid’s biography. There is a long list of characters provided at the beginning of the book and it contains a good amount of detail. It is sympathetic to the Kid, trying to paint him as a real person and separate facts from sensationalism. It reads like an essay and gives a good idea of what life was like in New Mexico Territory in the 19th century. I found it a good, solid read, but not particularly dynamic. Recommended to fans of westerns or those interested in the lives of famous outlaws.
richardwells's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the hell out of this. Hansen gives us a totally irresistible Billy the Kid - witty, handsome, two handed shooter, rapscallion and romancer. New Mexico. The Billy we'd all like to be.
michelle_leitheoir's review
3.0
A thoroughly researched and sympathetic portrayal of arguably the most famous outlaw of the Old West. Punchy dialogue and gritty characterization breathed life into this 100-year-old story in a way that made it feel real. This wasn’t the romanticized dime novel sheriffs-and-outlaws type of book I was somewhat expecting. It was dusty, bloody, and sad. It blurred the lines between good guys and bad guys. It felt honest. I guess that’s a good word for it. It didn’t excuse or condone Bonney’s lawbreaking, but it made me feel the sort of frustration and desperation and anger that could make a hot-blooded young man without much guidance in his life think it was the only just option.
I will say it took me a long time to get used to Hansen’s on-again, off-again approach to fictionalizing the history, though. Sometimes it reads like a history book. Sometimes it reads like a novel. Stylistically, that didn’t gel very well, and it tempted me to abandon it a time or two. Hansen writes both styles very well. VERY well. As a reader, though, it’s less jarring to stay in one place. I think it would have read more smoothly as a pure, 100% novel with some of the historical notes in either an epilogue or an author’s note. It never quite found that balance between narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Such a fine line between those two, and this one just hopped over it way too many times.
Once I got over my frustrations with the style (and the cast of characters got to be a little more constant - my goodness, it’s aggravating, trying to keep track of who’s who when everyone is getting shot so early on), I really found it easy to immerse myself in the history and ride along with Bonney on his exploits.
I will say it took me a long time to get used to Hansen’s on-again, off-again approach to fictionalizing the history, though. Sometimes it reads like a history book. Sometimes it reads like a novel. Stylistically, that didn’t gel very well, and it tempted me to abandon it a time or two. Hansen writes both styles very well. VERY well. As a reader, though, it’s less jarring to stay in one place. I think it would have read more smoothly as a pure, 100% novel with some of the historical notes in either an epilogue or an author’s note. It never quite found that balance between narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Such a fine line between those two, and this one just hopped over it way too many times.
Once I got over my frustrations with the style (and the cast of characters got to be a little more constant - my goodness, it’s aggravating, trying to keep track of who’s who when everyone is getting shot so early on), I really found it easy to immerse myself in the history and ride along with Bonney on his exploits.
evila_elf's review
So boring!
I am a huge fan of Billy the Kid, and this read like either a watered-down nonfiction book, or a watered-down novel.
Hansen seemed to find it important to include every bit of history he learned about The Kid. And everything felt like it was being told about a past event (duh, I know, it IS a past event). But I want to LIVE it. I want to be right there in Billy's shoes and know what he is thinking about.
I flipped around a bit to when things actually start happening, like when he met Tunstall, hoping that the story would finally take off, but the dialogue was so cringe-worthy.
Then I skipped to the end to see how his death was handled. All we got was Billy repeating Quien es? a lot, Garrett's POV, and some random dude outside's POV who heard a ricochet shot as two. In the same paragraph. Facts are fine and dandy, but lacking emotion. We all know Billy is going to die, but that is no reason to make us not care if he does.
Which is another thing that Hansen does a lot - POV jumps. We never stay in one POV. In Billy's past, we are told a lot of things that his mother is thinking, which are unimportant and takes away from The Kid. I loathe this style of writing as it creates distance from the characters you are supposed to be following. If the mother's POV is so important, then give her her own chapter. Not random sentences.
I am a huge fan of Billy the Kid, and this read like either a watered-down nonfiction book, or a watered-down novel.
Hansen seemed to find it important to include every bit of history he learned about The Kid. And everything felt like it was being told about a past event (duh, I know, it IS a past event). But I want to LIVE it. I want to be right there in Billy's shoes and know what he is thinking about.
I flipped around a bit to when things actually start happening, like when he met Tunstall, hoping that the story would finally take off, but the dialogue was so cringe-worthy.
Then I skipped to the end to see how his death was handled. All we got was Billy repeating Quien es? a lot, Garrett's POV, and some random dude outside's POV who heard a ricochet shot as two. In the same paragraph. Facts are fine and dandy, but lacking emotion. We all know Billy is going to die, but that is no reason to make us not care if he does.
Which is another thing that Hansen does a lot - POV jumps. We never stay in one POV. In Billy's past, we are told a lot of things that his mother is thinking, which are unimportant and takes away from The Kid. I loathe this style of writing as it creates distance from the characters you are supposed to be following. If the mother's POV is so important, then give her her own chapter. Not random sentences.
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