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The Legend of Colton H. Bryant

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 825 ratings · 233 reviews

From the bestselling author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight and Scribbling the Cat, the unforgettable true story of a boy who comes of age in the oil-fields and open plains of Wyoming; a heartrending story of the human spirit that lays bare where it is that wisdom truly resides.

Colton H. Bryant was one of Wyoming's native sons and grown by that high, dry place, he ne...more From the bestselling author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight and Scribbling the Cat, the unforgettable true story of a boy who comes of age in the oil-fields and open plains of Wyoming; a heartrending story of the human spirit that lays bare where it is that wisdom truly resides.

Colton H. Bryant was one of Wyoming's native sons and grown by that high, dry place, he never once wanted to leave it. "Wyoming loves me," he said, and it was true. Wyoming—roughneck, wild, open, and searingly beautiful—loved him, and Colton loved it back. As a child in school, Colton never could force himself to focus on his lessons. Instead, he'd plan where he'd go fishing later, or he'd wonder how many jackrabbits he might find on his favorite hunting patch, or he'd dream about the rides he would take on the wild mare he was breaking. "At my funeral, you'll all feel sorry for making me waste so much time in school," he said to his best friend Jake—and it was true.

Two things got Colton through the boredom of school and the neighborhood "K-mart cowboys" who bullied him: His best friend Jake and his favorite mantra, a snatch of a saying he heard on TV: Mind over matter, which meant to him: If you don't mind, it don't matter. Colton and Jake grew up wanting nothing more than the freedom to sleep out under the great Wyoming night sky, to hunt and fish and chase the horizon and to be just like Colton's dad, a strong and gentle man of few words. When it was time for Colton to marry and make money on his own, he took up as a hand on an oil rig. It was dangerous work, but Colton was the third generation in his family to work on the oil patch and he claimed it was in his blood. And anyway, he joked, he always knew he'd die young.

Colton did die young, and he died on the rig, falling to his death because the drilling company had neglected to spend two thousand dollars on the mandated safety rails that would have saved his life. His family received no compensation. But they didn't expect to—they knew the company's ways, and after all as Colton would have said: Mind over matter.

In Scribbling the Cat, Alexandra Fuller brought us the examined life of a Rhodesian soldier; now, in her inimitable poetic voice and with her pitch-perfect ear for dialogue, she brings before us the life of someone much closer to home, as unexpected as he is iconic. The moving, tough, and in many ways quintessentially American story of Colton H. Bryant's life could not be told without also telling the story of the land that grew him—the beautiful and somehow tragic Wyoming; the land where there are still such things as cowboys roaming the plains, where it's relationships that get you through, and where a just, soulful, passionate man named Colton H. Bryant lived and died.(less)

Hardcover, 224 pages

Published May 6th 2008 by Penguin Press HC, The (first published January 1st 2008)

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Nov 03, 2008 Sonia Reppe rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, true-life-story, wyoming

In this non-fiction novel, Fuller somberly tells the story of an unsung American hero, Colton H.Bryant, a young oil drill rig worker; one of many who support this country's oil industry, thereby providing much of the country's wealth. You might call this a true crime novel—the crime being capitalist greed and unfair treatment of workers; or you might call it a modern western for all the broad sweeping Wyoming landscapes, and the timeless struggle of its inhabitants ("who appear as tiny dots agai...more In this non-fiction novel, Fuller somberly tells the story of an unsung American hero, Colton H.Bryant, a young oil drill rig worker; one of many who support this country's oil industry, thereby providing much of the country's wealth. You might call this a true crime novel—the crime being capitalist greed and unfair treatment of workers; or you might call it a modern western for all the broad sweeping Wyoming landscapes, and the timeless struggle of its inhabitants ("who appear as tiny dots against the great swell of land") to work and prosper.

Getting into this book was really slow for me. It was kind of like watching a boring documentary...There is no plot focus at first, just short snippets of people and scenery. Also, I thought the writing was pretentious. We are told Colton's walk was "like he had never really found the difference between sky and earth." Another sentence was about a wild mare "tossing its head in serpentines of willfullness." I thought, why not: "willfully tossed its head in snake-like motions"? This is not to pick on someone's style—I'm just giving examples of why I didn't love this book. I stuck with it because my friend liked it, and the chapters are short.

I was indifferent to Colton's character for the first half of the book. This is a boy who "put ketchup on his ketchup" and almost froze himself to death—twice. Things pick up when his horse runs away and he searches for her everyday; but mainly I just thought he was a goofball.

What saved this book for me is that Colton grew as a person, into a responsible husband and father. I liked this last third of the book, and also the descriptions of the weather that takes on a life of its own; but I can't give it three stars because the first half annoyed me so much. It took me six weeks to read this because I could only take so much of it at one time. Even so, I have to admit that Fuller is a good and effective writer. Even though her writing don't get an approving "Whee-haw" out of me, it got the job done.
(less)

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Jun 13, 2008 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs-and-biographies

Whoa. I was not expecting this book. I love Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, but this book reached another level of poignancy and relevance for me. The only tricky part about it is how to convince other people that they should read a story about a cowboy in Wyoming, because it is not really about being a cowboy, and it is not necessarily a tribute to Wyoming. That said, it should probably be added to your reading list, because Fuller tells a story that needs to be told, and she does so beauti...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Eileend rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub

No spoilers.
Blurb: an interesting non-fiction biography that reads more like fiction. An insight into the life and death of a oil rig worker in Wyoming. Insightful and sad.

Longer version:
Take the story of a kind of average guy growing up in a small town in Wyoming, where there's only a few career choices for a kid with ADHD, and who'd rather be riding his horse across the landscape or fishing than anything else, and put him on an oil rig for a company who'd rather save money than provide a safe...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Pat Baker rated it 2 of 5 stars

I completed it as I would be queried by the person who gifted me with it. There were interesting aspects, but it is not one I recommend

Penguin Review Quote "By prevailing standards, Colton H. Bryant seems hardly the stuff of legend. His education slowed and hampered by ADHD, his ambitions and prospects stunted by the isolation of his surroundings, Colton was a person whom many of us might promptly dismiss as another face in the crowd."
'
"In this true story (her 3rd book) with “narrative liberti...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

This is a heartbreaker of a book that will also make you angry. Based on a true story - though the author herself says at the end that she took some liberties with the material, so it's hard to know how "creative" the book is as creative nonfiction. Nonetheless, you come to know its central character, Colton, as a young man who's the product of an LDS upbringing in small-town and rural Wyoming. Not much of a student and pegged as a "slow learner," he compensates for the meager hand he's been dea...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Andi Marquette rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm also a huge fan of Alexandra Fuller. I would probably read her grocery lists and find something deeply poetic about them. She is, I think, one of the most lyrical writers I've discovered, and this account of a third-generation Wyoming roughneck only continues to cement my opinion.

Most of her work deals with her life in Zimbabwe, so I was surprised to see this one but then I found out she was living in Wyoming, so it made more sense. Before I started reading it, too, I had a feeling she'd "ge...more

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Aug 08, 2011 SwensonBooks rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: jill

The Legend of Colton H. Bryant by Alexandra Fuller (Penguin Books, 2008) takes narrative liberties with the non-fiction story of a young man from Wyoming. The facts of the case are unalterable but the way Fuller tells the story makes it one worth knowing.

"Cowboy up, cupcake!" Colton would tell his buddies in those moments when the tough got going. In 2004 there weren't many real cowboys left in Wyoming. Oil rigs. Open sky. And yet he'd tamed a wild Mustang.

Blues eyes, shy, and not the sharpest...more The Legend of Colton H. Bryant by Alexandra Fuller (Penguin Books, 2008) takes narrative liberties with the non-fiction story of a young man from Wyoming. The facts of the case are unalterable but the way Fuller tells the story makes it one worth knowing.

"Cowboy up, cupcake!" Colton would tell his buddies in those moments when the tough got going. In 2004 there weren't many real cowboys left in Wyoming. Oil rigs. Open sky. And yet he'd tamed a wild Mustang.

Blues eyes, shy, and not the sharpest tool in the shed, Colton H. Bryant became the butt of the school bullies' jokes. He had talents; they weren't the academic type. He had a knack for having accidents. A charming cross between goofball and klutz, Colton as an adolescent is easy to identify with as he and his friends try to sort out what to do after high school in the middle of nowhere as a bunch of nobodies.

The only jobs they can secure, just like their fathers, seem to be with the oil industry. It is interesting to read about the lifestyle of those at the lowest end of this industry: temporary rig workers. The lack of safety training for employees and the lack of repair and maintenance on equipment leads to the occasional loss of life.

Colton avoids the inevitable employment and spends an entire summer working the rodeo circuit with a friend riding broncos. The bonds and friendships between these boys as they become men make them fascinating to follow. Finding love, marriage, children, and all those manly responsiblities of adulthood to be a bit much, Colton is the underdog dude you fall in love with even without looking into those blue eyes.

Even though Fuller captures the Wyoming landscape and lifestyles, the true story of the destructive forces of the oil industry - particularly hydrofracking - is larger than all of Wyoming. It's right here in my backyard. Hydrofracking in the oil industry in Texas, Pennsylvania, and now New York offers "job growth" in the "energy" industry. And the dangers are not just to the workers, but the entire community.

Since I picked up The Legend of Colton H. Bryant I have also read in my local newspapers that there was a leak in the pipeline south of here between Elmira and Binghamton and a house exploded in Horseheads from another leak. In Ithaca I have seen a dozen or more pickup trucks, brand new 4-wheeling big trucks, with the Cheasapeake Oil logo on the side-doors driving around downtown last week.

"Cowboy up, cupcake!" Colt said when his friend Jake had his heart broken by a girl. In their early 20s, these friends shared a world driven by an insatiable quest for fossil fuels; and it continues unquestioned. The men and women who risk their lives to provide us with that energy at last have a champion in this new American cowboy.(less)

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May 20, 2011 Lucy Gold rated it 5 of 5 stars

Quite simply one of the best books I have ever read. It's short, simply stunning and entirely moving. And it's the only novel that has ever caused me to weep publicly (I was on a train, it was a tad embarrassing). I gave it to my (very masculine) little brother, he wept; he gave it to his Greek best friend, he wept; I gave it to my mum, who doesn't read much, she read it twice; I gave it to my friend who is doing a pHD on poetry, he wept; I gave it to another friend who is a doctor, she apparent...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Paul Pessolano rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a true story of a young man in Wyoming. Colton was a slow learner and was often made fun of by his peers. He would be called "retard", and although this hurt him he always found a way to shrug it off. His mantra was "Mind over Matter, I don't mind so it don't matter". Colton was loved by his parents, siblings, and a few friends. His best friend Jake would be by his side at all times. Colton was always on the fast track, he never slowed down. A good example of this was a question he put t...more

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Dec 27, 2009 Previous TCL Reviews rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My interest in this novel-biography was twofold: I am fascinated by the books of our award winning local author, "Bo" Fuller, and I was
curious to see how she would tell the true story of this young Wyoming oil field worker. Her bulls-eye view of the land and skillful way to pull the reader into the soul of Colton, his family and friends, was superb. I was amazed at their strong ties to this dangerous work as well as their devotion to each other. While the fate of Colton's tragic death was skillf...more

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Nov 18, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks

“This is the story of Colton H. Bryant, and of the land that grew him.”

And so this true-life tale begins, as we follow this young man, as he grows up on the wide open plains and oil fields of Wyoming. He is a good-hearted boy, with the simple goal of being just like his Dad, a roughneck on the rigs. Colton’s favorite saying is “Mind over Matter: If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”
Most of his wishes come true…
I read Fuller’s first memoir, “ Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight” and knew immediately...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Marie Theron rated it 4 of 5 stars

A gentle story of a true son of the Wild West! I enjoyed this character for himself, but slowly realized that this story is so relevant in South Africa today as it touches the greed of humanity for money and gas.

We all share the fear of fracking in the Karoo, with many people saying: "be calm, it will never happen!" But these things do happen. Mines are opened up in Wyoming and depleted at great speed, leaving behind areas with sour foul air and not a living plant and animal and no chance of nat...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Marc Weitz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another honest and well-written book from Alexandra Fuller. This one tackles the life of Colton H. Bryant, a good old boy from Wyoming who dies tragically working on the oil rigs just short of his 27th birthday. The short book describes his boyhood on his family's ranch, his friends, his love of horses, his stint in the rodeo, and finally adulthood, family, and work.

From the beginning, the reader knows that Colton meets a tragic end. The overriding theme is that Colton is a good guy with a big...more

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Jan 22, 2009 Jeanette added it

slim, beautiful true story that reads like poetry and conjures the modern american west like nothing else i've read.

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Mar 25, 2012 Tyler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: Colton H. Bryant is a Wyoming cowboy, born and raised in Evanston, Wyoming. He struggled through his school years and was often made fun of while growing up. His favorite mantra then became "'mind over matter,' if I don't mind, then it don't matter." Colton seemed to know that he would die young, so he lived life to its very fullest, traveling the rodeo circuit with a friend, hunting jackrabbits or other animals every chance he could and camping with his horse and friends. He knew that...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Lulu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Colton H. Bryant è vissuto veramente. E neanche molto tempo fa: non stiamo parlando di decenni addietro, ma di qualche anno appena. E saperlo - specie a posteriori, dopo aver letto tutta la sua storia, ti lascia addosso una strana sensazione di rabbia e malessere, una specie di magone che non riesci a mandar giù - forse è proprio lui a non voler andare giù, in un certo senso.

C'è qualcosa in questa storia che vuole rimanere, che non vuol farsi dimenticare.

Colton è appena un bambino quando l'autri...more Colton H. Bryant è vissuto veramente. E neanche molto tempo fa: non stiamo parlando di decenni addietro, ma di qualche anno appena. E saperlo - specie a posteriori, dopo aver letto tutta la sua storia, ti lascia addosso una strana sensazione di rabbia e malessere, una specie di magone che non riesci a mandar giù - forse è proprio lui a non voler andare giù, in un certo senso.

C'è qualcosa in questa storia che vuole rimanere, che non vuol farsi dimenticare.

Colton è appena un bambino quando l'autrice ce lo presenta: sfreccia sulla sua bicicletta scassata in un Wyoming indifferente, accecato dalla luce e sferzato dal vento, vuoto e bianco da far paura; Colton corre, scappa via dal suo dolore, un pò come farebbe Forrest Gump. E anche lui ha il suo motto, anche lui nasconde il pianto sotto strati e strati di fiduciosa autodifesa: me ne infischio e non m'invischia. Ma t'invischia eccome, carino, anche se non vuoi farlo vedere a nessuno.

Chi è Colton? Per le prime 100 pagine seguiamo le peripezie di questo strambo ragazzo senza capirci molto, nè affezionarci a questo tipo decisamente sulle righe: un tipo che si fa quasi ammazzare per recuperare un'anatra morta, che passa il suo tempo a rubacchiare l'auto della sorella Merinda per portare a spasso i suoi amici in giro per rodei, oppure per andare a caccia d'alci, talvolta insieme alla sua cavalla Cocoa, scapestrata quanto il padrone. Non proviamo nessuna emozione per lui, nè disprezzo nè noia ma neppure coinvolgimento o interesse. Niente. Lo seguiamo perchè è così che deve essere.

Superate le prime 100 pagine, ecco il cambio di tendeza: la curiosità comincia a prevalere sul piatto sfondo della lettura. Dove sta andando Colton? Ed è davvero possibile che sia sempre così sereno, sempre pronto a ridere e dimenticare, e forse anche perdonare? Cosa vuole fare Colton? Ma Colton è un tipo normale, o è davvero un ritardato come dice (affettuosamente) anche il suo miglior amico Jake?

Colton è un Cowboy, uno degli ultimi, che insegue il suo sogno di una vita piena e "normale" - essere un bravo padre, un bravo marito, un bravo ragazzo in blue jeans timorato da Dio. Ama passeggiare in sella a Cocoa, ma la vita è quella che è e lui si ritrova a lavorare negli impianti di Trivellazione che perforano anno dopo anno gli sconfinati altopiani del Wyoming. Anche lui puzza di diesel e petrolio, e il suo sorriso adesso è un pò più sporco. Ma è pur sempre il ragazzo che, nei club di spogliarelliste, punta i suoi occhi incredibilmente azzurri sul cheeseburger con doppio ketchup e chiama la cameriera "Signora", con dolce educazione.

Dove stai andando, Colton? Lo sai pure tu, dove stai andando.

E quando il lettore comincia a capirlo, un pò non vuole, un pò si ribella, perchè anche lui si è affezionato a Colton - a questo ragazzo che s'innamora sin dal primo istante di Melissa e le chiede di sposarlo per telefono - , e non vuole sapere come andrà a finire, perchè andrà a finire male, come sempre. Come sempre.

Ed alla fine è proprio così che va a finire: e si rimane straziati e dolenti davanti ad una fine tanto evitabile, quanto futile. Inutile chiedersi il perchè: non c'è un perchè. O, se c'è, allora il perchè sono i soldi. Frase da moralisti? Assoluta verità.

Un libro da leggere. Non mi aspettavo una storia tanto bella, nè una lettura così semplice e scorrevole.
Bellissimo e straziante. Dolente. Malinconico.

****

Colton disse a Nathanial di avvicinarsi. Smontò il fucile sul giornale e mostrò i pezzi al bambino. Poi prese l'olio per il fucile e uno straccio di montone e ne diede un pezzo pulito al figlio. "Okay" gli disse. "Non ha senso avere un fucile se non te ne occupi e lo stesso vale per tutte le altre cose nella vita".(less)

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Jun 30, 2009 Brice rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a beautifully written snapshot of the modern day cowboy. Fuller is an expert with dialog and scene description, knowing how to capture a moment in time with a sharp, empathetic minimalism better than most writers out there. Overall, the book has an obvious socio-political point--greed kills, etc--that only occasionally shows up in the text with digs at air-condition CEOs and "efficiency" as insult. But the attempt to be political undermines the story a bit. While Don't Let's Go to the Do...more

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Mar 20, 2009 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Peace Like a River

Shelves: nonfiction, biography-ish, adult-technically

Maybe it was the steady diet of John Wayne that I was fed as a child (much to my distaste at the time) but there is just something about cowboys. Colton is a far cry from John, though. He's an updated version, a modern cowboy, the kind of cowboy who breaks in his first horse at 12 and then goes to work on the oil rigs.

Fuller's treatment of Colton was phenomenal. She describes him in reverent tones, as befits a legend, and yet with the understanding that he was, like any man, flawed. As a reader...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Charlie Quimby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Colton Bryant was briefly profiled in an excellent issue of High Country News that reported on safety problems in the Rocky Mountain oil patch, a place I worked for two summers four decades ago. More than once, I had co-workers ask me, the college boy, "why are you here?" When Fuller picked up the trail of Bryant's life and death, I wanted to know why he was there.

The answer, as portrayed in THE LEGEND OF COLTON H. BRYANT, wasn't too surprising. His father worked on the rigs, and for a kid who'd...more Colton Bryant was briefly profiled in an excellent issue of High Country News that reported on safety problems in the Rocky Mountain oil patch, a place I worked for two summers four decades ago. More than once, I had co-workers ask me, the college boy, "why are you here?" When Fuller picked up the trail of Bryant's life and death, I wanted to know why he was there.

The answer, as portrayed in THE LEGEND OF COLTON H. BRYANT, wasn't too surprising. His father worked on the rigs, and for a kid who'd barely made it out of high school in Wyoming, his only opportunity to earn a living wage would be working as a drill hand for companies that treated laborers as interchangeable parts.

Security for Colton's wife and child was represented by a dangerous, repetitious job in which his crew mates might be inexperienced and his employer was more concerned about avoiding costs and liability than ensuring safety.

There's a horrifying scene in the hospital where Colton is dying surrounded by family: A company safety officer shows up, complaining that after working on another incident for 24 hours he has to deal with "this bullshit." After taking a nap in his truck he comes back to ask for a drug test of the heavily sedated Colton, which would get the company off the hook for the accident. The doctor refuses.

Fuller's account is based on research and had the cooperation of Colton's family and friends. It retains some of the emotional distance of nonfiction, but the narrative style also borrows from the techniques of fiction. At times, this strategy works, when Fuller is conveying the unforgiving Wyoming landscape and how the people who live there respond to the harsh choices it offers.

But however successful she is in humanizing her subject, Colton H. Bryant never rises to "legend." His story and circumstances are unremarkable, and without this account, his life would have been written off as quickly as his accident was by his employer.

Whether that was Fuller's point from the beginning or simply her discovery as she dug into his life, I don't know. This is a quick read and rings true to me based on my experience, which could fill in some of the gaps Fuller left. A reader with less interest in the west and its anonymous tragedies might wish for something more.(less)

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Jul 01, 2009 brian tanabe rated it 4 of 5 stars

I finished this book last month but a book discussion lead by the author last night compelled me to write this review.

I am not an expert on Wyoming or the writings of Alexandra, but yet I do feel a gained knowledge simply because of my proximity to both. I think she captures Wyoming and the modern cowboy quite effectively, both with some very rough edges. I think Alexandra does an amazing job of painting the picture of Colton and his sphere of influence, so beautifully at times you think you ar...more

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Dec 11, 2010 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, oil

I first read Alexandra Fuller years ago, and loved her "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight," her autobiography about growing up in Africa during the Rhodesian civil war.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this new title from her, and it is beautiful in its own right.

Colton H. Bryant's family always worked in oil, and he followed in the tradition. Colton found work on oil rigs in rural Wyoming, and enjoyed a simple yet fulfilling life, filled with adventure, friends and family.

In 2006, his life wa...more

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Jul 01, 2010 Randine rated it 5 of 5 stars

oh my gosh - what a wonderful story. True story. The main character made me wish I had had a son. The author is a political animal (Don't Lets Go To the Dogs Tonight)so it's not just a piece about an outstanding young man in Wyoming - it's a burn on the oil drilling industry in Wyoming where safety for the employees (EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WORK)is of absolutely no importance to the companies that drill. When you think about all our rights and safety measures in the workplace - I am a certified OSHA...more

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Mar 22, 2010 prairiesister rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to prairiesister by: A true reader

Shelves: signed-by-the-author

This book I couldn't put down, read it in a day & 1/2. It is devastating, it made me laugh and cry, it blew me away.

If you want to know what it's like for a young man in Wyoming who has two choices, the army or the oil rigs, read this book. If you want to KNOW this gorgeous land, read this book. If you want to KNOW what is behind the fuel in the car you drive, READ THIS BOOK.

I can't recommend it enough. If you love to read, READ THIS BOOK. I never would have chosen this one from the shelves,...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Holly rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this while traveling across Wyoming, so it had special resonance-- the barren landscapes of the west, the oil boon-and-bust towns, the cowboy culture (there were rodeo guys staying in our Super 8 talking about bull-riding). When Alexandra Fuller spoke in Iowa City a couple of weeks ago, she was very emotional about the impact of this story on her. Learning Colton's story and meeting the people who loved him must have been a very powerful experience for her. Clearly, they made an impressio...more

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May 14, 2009 Sharon rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: available-english

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 12, 2009 Jan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a real Wyoming story. It's main character is a feller born in 1980, who lived a cowboy life in Evanston and surrounding areas. It speaks of Freedom, Pinedale, Rock Springs and places I know. It also speaks of life as I have seen it lived. The author nails the truth about lusterless living in a windy, forsaken place. It is sad. I cried at the end and have been ruminating since.

It is sprinkled with Wyoming hick talk, which includes real profanity-- plus dang, heck, gallons of Mountain Dew...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

A lot of this book takes place in and around Evanston Wy, an area I've only passed through to get to Salt Lake, but a place I now have a new appreciation for. Fuller's descriptions of the landscapes, the natural gas industry and the people of this area are both prosaic and realistic, making the reader feel a complex blend of aversion and seduction to that lifestyle. Woven together by the scenes in Colton's life, this book has a bit of everything from funny redneck jokes to action-packed adventur...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Heidwrite rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not many books tell the story of workplace deaths. This does, extremely well. A true story written like a novel of a Wyoming kid with a family and a wife and friends who loved him who one cold night fell off a rig in the gas fields of Wyoming for a company that apparently had little real care for the safety of easily replaced modern day cowboys. It's much more about the too short life of this one, seemingly not unique person. But, if it were not for lousy safety on the job, he would still be ali...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Marjorie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book gets started slowly but picks up speed and power. The characters (who are real people, actually) are brought to life beautifully. It's a story about friendship, love, generosity of spirit, set against a background of environmental and corporate damage. As the fracking debate goes on in New York State, this book describes the dramatic and generally negative changes incurred by communities when the oil and gas companies move in.

The language is beautiful. Well worth reading. I read it in...more

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Sep 04, 2009 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars

Terry Tempest Williams wrote that The Legend of Colton H Bryant is "an elegant and elegiac portrait of a family in the clamp of the oil and gas boom in the Upper Green River Valley of Wyoming. ...tough edged and tender to the core."This book is amazing. Fuller's writing talent, character development and descriptions of the land, the weather, the rigs, the people and their feelings are perfect. I felt I was right there with them through thick and thin from beginning to end. Well worth your readin...more

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About Alexandra Fuller

Alexandra Fuller has written four books of non-fiction.

Her debut book, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood (Random House, 2001), was a New York Times Notable Book for 2002, the 2002 Booksense best non-fiction book, a finalist for the Guardian’s First Book Award and the winner of the 2002 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize.

Her 2004 Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldie...more

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Books by Alexandra Fuller

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