And Not to Yield: A Novel of the Life and Times of Wild Bill Hickok

by Randy Lee Eickhoff

Born James Butler Hickok, Wild Bill Hickok made his reputation as a gunslinger extraordinaire, and his legend has titillated journalists, novelists, and historians ever since. Here is the story---crafted by a master novelist---of this complex hero whose exploits have become part of the lore of the American frontier.

Nurtured by devout, staunchly Abolitionist parents, young Hickok quickly leaves their hardscrabble farm to homestead in Kansas. A true romantic and a Renaissance man, nourished by Greek and Arthurian legends, he effortlessly succeeds as a rancher, gambler, Union soldier, Indian fighter, lawman, baseball umpire, merchant, actor, marksman nonpareil---and lusty lover of whores, debutantes, and Libbie Custer.

But Hickok's many talents could not bring him peace. Guided and plagued by phantoms from his past, blessed and cursed with supernatural gifts, Hickok, like his hero Ulysses, must fulfill his destiny through his travels. From bleak upstate New York to the rugged Badlands, from New York City's Broadway to the Rockies, from the Mississippi riverboats to the Great Salt Flats, here is the compelling Odyssey of an American icon, told in Randy Lee Eickhoff's unforgettable voice.



At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Westerns

816 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Tony Laplume · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally decided to just not finish. Eickhoff is a hack who couldn’t distinguish between myth busting and his own clumsy literary efforts, sorely in need of an editor, padding out his book seemingly at random, often repeating himself to no benefit, never saw a description he didn’t think added appropriate color…It’s tremendously hard to see how this was published in the first place, let alone bundled together, later, with what I’m still hoping is a better read (he at least has a co-writer for Bowie, Leonard C. Lewis). Life’s too short to waste on bad writing for too long.

[Elsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get through this novel. I found it very all over the place, especially at the beginning. It felt like the author wasn't finishing their thought before changing the subject.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not recommend finding Eickhoff and Lewis’s Bowie in this edition, as Eickhoff’s And Not to Yield (about Wild Bill Hickok) is far inferior to it. Included, however, is an epigraph from Eickhoff culled out of The Odyssey (Eickhoff’s own translation) that’s worth noting. Bowie is well worth reading, so if this is the only way you’re able to find it, just maybe don’t even bother with Yield. Everything good about Bowie is absent from it.