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Requiem for a Gun
A COLT THAT BORE A KILLER'S CURE When Dryden shot Len Shattuck it was only natural that he should take the dead gunslinger's weapon. But a gun is only as good--or as bad--as the man behind it. No amount of reputation would face down the men who wanted the killer's Colt for themselves. And then the word got Dryden was a coward. He'd gunned Shattuck down from behind! That's when Howie Dryden had to learn how to be a man, or die with the legendary pistol in his hand...
215 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1963
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March 10, 2025
From what little I know, Burt Arthur was a writer who wrote over a hundred of cheap paperback westerns, back when you could make a decent living of it. In his last two decades of writing, he cowrote many with his son Budd, though there's no telling how one-sided that collaboration was. I wish I had more context about this book in particular, the ecosystem it was released in and how something like this would be treated. Based on the price of first edition copies of these books, I'm guessing "disposable".
The cover of this writes a check that the writing cannot cash, not dissimilar to many a dull western with a cool poster. Perhaps a consequence of advanced age, falling into certain established genre beats, or simply being paid by the word, there is a lot of nothing going on. Pages and pages of the cowardly protagonist lamenting his circumstances, at one point just recounting all the stuff that's already happened, to himself. Also, as a consequence of the episodic structure, characters and towns receive little fleshing out and have no lasting impression. Perhaps in a different medium, or a or even with a longer novel, they could have been made more distinct. Of course, this is a dime western, so that wasn't in the cards.
What the novel does offer is the kind of rugged and direct prose that you get from an old hand who's been doing this for the better part of his life (that, or a son who knows that style well). In a way, the matter-of-fact ambling pace that flattens any emotional highs or lows heightens the farce of the situation. You see before your eyes Howie Dryden develop from a gutless, yellow-bellied craven to a gutless, yellow-bellied craven to someone so used to misfortune and violence he barely bats an eye. The laconic humor is perhaps a bit sparser than it ought to be, but it's amusing enough throughout. I'll note that for someone described as slow-witted, Howie does seem very observant and thoughtful from the jump, but since it makes for a more engaging read than someone who literally has no thoughts of what goes on around him I can't complain.
The cover of this writes a check that the writing cannot cash, not dissimilar to many a dull western with a cool poster. Perhaps a consequence of advanced age, falling into certain established genre beats, or simply being paid by the word, there is a lot of nothing going on. Pages and pages of the cowardly protagonist lamenting his circumstances, at one point just recounting all the stuff that's already happened, to himself. Also, as a consequence of the episodic structure, characters and towns receive little fleshing out and have no lasting impression. Perhaps in a different medium, or a or even with a longer novel, they could have been made more distinct. Of course, this is a dime western, so that wasn't in the cards.
What the novel does offer is the kind of rugged and direct prose that you get from an old hand who's been doing this for the better part of his life (that, or a son who knows that style well). In a way, the matter-of-fact ambling pace that flattens any emotional highs or lows heightens the farce of the situation. You see before your eyes Howie Dryden develop from a gutless, yellow-bellied craven to a gutless, yellow-bellied craven to someone so used to misfortune and violence he barely bats an eye. The laconic humor is perhaps a bit sparser than it ought to be, but it's amusing enough throughout. I'll note that for someone described as slow-witted, Howie does seem very observant and thoughtful from the jump, but since it makes for a more engaging read than someone who literally has no thoughts of what goes on around him I can't complain.
Displaying 1 of 1 review