Hey Cowboy, Wanna Get Lucky?

by Baxter Black

The bestselling novel from America’s premier cowboy poet.
 
Cowboys Lick and Cody are on a quest to qualify for the rodeo national finals—and their widely entertaining, often hilarious adventure includes a smattering of sex, violence, intrigue, and the occasional philosophical rumination. These modern-day cowpokes—two chivalrous knights of the rope and range with a hankering for bucking broncos and for the female of the two-legged species—find much more than they bargained for in Oklahoma City. Against the colorful, flamboyant backdrop of the hard-ridin’, hard-playin’ rodeo circuit, they encounter a city woman named Lilac, with whom Cody falls in love; a bull named Kamikaze; and two corrupt Texas billionaires who bet against Lick. In the vein of a latter-day Will Rogers, Baxter Black combines a colorful yarn with occasional bits of his unique cowboy philosophy and poetry.
 
“It could make a dead man sit up and laugh”— The Washington Post Book World

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Westerns, Horses

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Baxter Black (January 10, 1945 – June 10, 2022) was an American cowboy poet and veterinarian. He wrote over 30 books of poetry, fiction—both novels and children's literature—and commentary, selling over two million books, CDs, and DVDs.

Reviews

[Michael Sigler]

What a weird book... Started out as an incredibly strong rodeo yarn thatd sure to be a 5/5, and then three-quarters of the way through, once at the NFR, shit goes off the rails into the land of the absolutely absurd. Such a shame, as the rest of the book was great. 3 stars is the absolute most I can give this book, unfortunately.

[Melissa]

This book was a hoot! I had a lot of fun reading it. It was funny, adventurous, took a turn toward weird, then turned back to the adventure and the fun.

Our Cowboy characters find themselves getting into some fun jams and having a good time!

[John E]

Fun and quick read, especially if you live or were raised around these people.

[DiAnne]

Just did not find this to be what I expected. Would not recommend it.

[David]

Call it 2.5 stars marked up to 3 by Goodreads. Enjoyable funny tale of two rodeo riders. Downgraded it for a silly plot device.

[Elizabeth Meadows]

Over the top, but pretty funny!

[Erin Merrill]

With the exception of the ghost living in the Copenhagen can, this is a cool story about a couple of good hearted cowboys.

[Cannon Roberts]

So many exclamation points.

[Linda Chris Cognevich]

Laugh out loud read!

Baxter’s unique storytelling makes one laugh out loud! He puts you “there” with his colorful descriptions and choice of words.

[Kristal Stidham]

This is so much fun! A slice of the rodeo circuit, from the POV of two contending cowboys. The author is also a well-known western poet and he sure can put the words together to cleverly and playfully describe a scene.

[Judy Iliff]

I cannot believe I didn't have this book added to my list! It is, without a doubt, the funniest book I've ever read! Many of my cowboy students were reading it a few years before I retired. They kept telling me I needed to read it. I'm not much of a "western" fan, and I really don't "do" rodeos. After listening to many book chats and hearing over and over again that I needed to read it, I finally checked it out of the high school library. It had been read so many times that the edges of the pages were soft. Wow! It really is LOL funny! I ended up buying a copy for my classroom - in fact, I bought many copies. It kept disappearing.

The story is of 2 cowboys, one a bull rider and the other a saddle bronc rider, I think. They travel to all the local rodeos in this part of the country: Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, etc., trying to qualify for the NFR in Las Vegas. At one point, as they're traveling through Billings, MT, they pull over to the side of the interstate that runs next to the Yellowstone River. An older couple has also pulled over. The wife is sitting outside their camper in a lawn chair reading. The husband is fly fishing and their dog is running around checking out the vegetation. One of the cowboys squats down to watch a fish bit the fly of the older mans lure. Meanwhile, the dog that is running around discovers a porcupine. Black writes something like, "And the porcupine did what porcupines do and headed straight for the safest looking place between the cowboy's legs". Cody (I think that's his name) ends up in the hospital with quills from knee to knee on the inside of his legs that have to be removed.

This is a fast read and I know all of you would enjoy reading it!

[Mel]

This book is laugh out loud funny and also contains some great cowboy poetry. It was a fast read and I loved the story. Lick and Cody are rodeo cowboys. They travel together and are best friends. This is about their adventures on the road going from rodeo to rodeo but is mostly a wonderful story of their friendship and how they are there for each other no matter what. Great Book! The humorous descriptions of the people they meet and adventures they have in this book are priceless.

[SamT]

If it's Baxter Black you know it's going to be funny. And if it's about cowboys you know Baxter Black knows as much about them as anybody. But, (Spoiler Alert) ............. when about midway through the book a genie comes out of a Vicks VapoRub bottle and the hero puts him in his Copenhagen can, I pretty much lost interest.

[John Benson]

I used to listen to Baxter Black's stories and poetry on NPR but have not heard them in a long time. This novel tells the story of two rodeo cowboy friends on the rodeo circuit. It is a fairly light, but enjoyable, read about this lifestyle. I enjoyed this book about Cody and Lick.

[Gina]

hilarious hijinks of some down on their luck rodeo cowboys. written by a bonafide cowboy poet. LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY.

[Dante]

How did this book (and its sequel) affect me? I went out of my way to watch professional bull riding on TV! The riders today are wimps. Helmets? Gee whiz ya pansy.

[Janet]

A novel by the cowboy poet that you've probably heard on NPR.

[Ron]

Read my review at my blog.

[Sherry Beth Preston]

I listened to this, read by the author. It was one of the funniest books I have ever been exposed to, and the author reading it made it even better.

[T.M.]

Hilarious work. Worth the read.

[Budd Gilfillen jr]

Outstanding book, funny with some great cowboy poetry.

[Mary]

this is the funniest book i haver ever read in my entire life and i have read a few books

[Mary Leykamp]

Really easy, entertaining, and light hearted read.