A review by jcschildbach
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen

5.0

I am not one for much historical fiction, or for Westerns in general, but this book is incredible at drawing the reader into a particular world and time. A blurb from a Newsweek review on the cover of the edition I read said Hansen made "low history" into "high art," which is a near perfect way of explaining this work. Hansen is extremely gifted with language and clever turns of phrase, as well as having a solid period feel to the diction. Occasionally, Hansen's writing can call attention to itself for being too clever, but that was rarely the case here. In addition, Hansen fully fleshed out plausible mannerisms and personalities of characters that were hardly the subject of reliable historical accounts of their lives. Hansen also weaves in newspaper accounts of events in a seamless manner, adding to the sort of in-the-time feel of the book. In Hansen's characterization, James becomes nearly superhuman in some abilities, and extremely flawed in other areas. Ford becomes the tragic figure, almost an obsessed Jesse James fan at the outset of the book, turning to a somewhat rightly paranoid, but wrongly conspiratorial figure in the second act, with the third act of the book devoted to Ford's life in the aftermath of the assassination. The other revolving members of the James gang are treated to quite a bit of page time as well, with a careful tracing of the events that built their reputations and undid their lives.