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Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures: Volume 2: More Mysterious Stories, Unfinished Manuscripts, and Lost Notes from One of the World's Most Popular Novelists
More unpublished works from the archives of Louis L'Amour: complete short stories, partial novels, treatments, and notes that will transport readers from the Western frontier to India, China, and even the future.
In this second volume, Beau L'Amour continues to uncover how and why many of his fathers never-before-seen manuscripts were written--and gives us a glimpse into the plans his father had in store for them, using notes, journal entries, and correspondences. These twenty-one selections reflect L'Amour's vision and virtuosity, including the beginnings of a post-apocalyptic science fiction tale, a proposal for a nonfiction project based on the life of Renaissance scholar Ibn Batuta, and two chapters of a historical novel set in India about the origin of L'Amour's well-known Talon family.
At the other end of the spectrum are classic adventures, such as "In the Measure of Time," a chance encounter set on the high seas, and a film treatment set in Mexico, as well as seventeen chapters of a novel that reappears throughout Louis's journals and letters and speaks to his fascination with post-revolutionary 1950s China, leading him so far as to speak with the Dalai Lama.
With rare photographs and commentary, this book further maps the journey one man embarked upon to become one of our greatest storytellers and the diverse realms to which his imagination travelled, making him a true American pioneer.
In this second volume, Beau L'Amour continues to uncover how and why many of his fathers never-before-seen manuscripts were written--and gives us a glimpse into the plans his father had in store for them, using notes, journal entries, and correspondences. These twenty-one selections reflect L'Amour's vision and virtuosity, including the beginnings of a post-apocalyptic science fiction tale, a proposal for a nonfiction project based on the life of Renaissance scholar Ibn Batuta, and two chapters of a historical novel set in India about the origin of L'Amour's well-known Talon family.
At the other end of the spectrum are classic adventures, such as "In the Measure of Time," a chance encounter set on the high seas, and a film treatment set in Mexico, as well as seventeen chapters of a novel that reappears throughout Louis's journals and letters and speaks to his fascination with post-revolutionary 1950s China, leading him so far as to speak with the Dalai Lama.
With rare photographs and commentary, this book further maps the journey one man embarked upon to become one of our greatest storytellers and the diverse realms to which his imagination travelled, making him a true American pioneer.
576 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 19, 2019
71 people are currently reading
1530 people want to read
About the author
Louis L'Amour
1,004 books3,509 followersLouis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 30, 2019
3 stars
I was somewhat disappointed in this book. I expected unpublished short stories. Instead, these are drafts of unfinished stories. Louis L'Amour would get an idea for a story and write it down without completing it. He would come back to it weeks, months or years later. He would often have several unfurnished drafts at the same time.
A few of these unfinished stories are far enough along that you can see the ending.
Pros: If you like Louis L'Amour's writing style, then this will be a treat for you as you can see how he created his stories.
Cons: If you like your stories to have a satisfying conclusion, then you will be disappointed.
Beau L'Amour is Louis' son and edited these stories. He comments at the end of each story, giving some insight into the creation of the story. In some cases, his dad worked at a job that gave him background knowledge to write this story. In others, his dad had traveled to that part of the world. In some cases Louis had talked to Beau about a story/movie/tv proposal that he was writing.
One quote from a man who had his hand cut off by a cruel lord: "You ask me... what is a hand? A hand is a delicate, yet a mighty thing. It can weave and weigh and strike and caress. It can grip a sword or wield a hammer, touch with tenderness or strike a blow that will crush bone. A hand can create a tapestry of silk, carve ivory or jade, create a goddess from raw marble, heal the sick or bless those who have sinned. A hand can lift a savage brute to the heights of creative skill."
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Bantam for sending me this book through NetGalley.
#LouisLamoursLostTreasuresVolume2 #NetGalley
I was somewhat disappointed in this book. I expected unpublished short stories. Instead, these are drafts of unfinished stories. Louis L'Amour would get an idea for a story and write it down without completing it. He would come back to it weeks, months or years later. He would often have several unfurnished drafts at the same time.
A few of these unfinished stories are far enough along that you can see the ending.
Pros: If you like Louis L'Amour's writing style, then this will be a treat for you as you can see how he created his stories.
Cons: If you like your stories to have a satisfying conclusion, then you will be disappointed.
Beau L'Amour is Louis' son and edited these stories. He comments at the end of each story, giving some insight into the creation of the story. In some cases, his dad worked at a job that gave him background knowledge to write this story. In others, his dad had traveled to that part of the world. In some cases Louis had talked to Beau about a story/movie/tv proposal that he was writing.
One quote from a man who had his hand cut off by a cruel lord: "You ask me... what is a hand? A hand is a delicate, yet a mighty thing. It can weave and weigh and strike and caress. It can grip a sword or wield a hammer, touch with tenderness or strike a blow that will crush bone. A hand can create a tapestry of silk, carve ivory or jade, create a goddess from raw marble, heal the sick or bless those who have sinned. A hand can lift a savage brute to the heights of creative skill."
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Bantam for sending me this book through NetGalley.
#LouisLamoursLostTreasuresVolume2 #NetGalley
January 17, 2020
I really liked this book makes you feel like you are sitting in the study with Louis L'Amour and watching as he writes and types away.
There is notes about starting a new book or an idea for a new book sometimes in his handwriting, there is first chapters of stories he started, outlines, notes of his writing process that anyone who loves books and the whole writing process will really enjoy!
There are pictures and letters he wrote to others. It really gives you and up close and personal look at the man and the process of writing a book. It also has descriptions of what was happening in his life at the time and you then understand why he wrote a certain book the way he did.
There is one story that he started that I especially liked that I wished that he would have finished about a man that is framed for murder in the noir 60s style that was intriguing.
As you can see I really liked the book! Well worth reading!
There is notes about starting a new book or an idea for a new book sometimes in his handwriting, there is first chapters of stories he started, outlines, notes of his writing process that anyone who loves books and the whole writing process will really enjoy!
There are pictures and letters he wrote to others. It really gives you and up close and personal look at the man and the process of writing a book. It also has descriptions of what was happening in his life at the time and you then understand why he wrote a certain book the way he did.
There is one story that he started that I especially liked that I wished that he would have finished about a man that is framed for murder in the noir 60s style that was intriguing.
As you can see I really liked the book! Well worth reading!
November 19, 2019
In his comments following Louis L’Amour’s brisk sci-fi story fragment “The Freeze,” son Beau L’Amour notes the tale may have been inspired by the discovery in Siberia of “The Berezovka Mammoth,” which was found with grass in its teeth and mouth. The discovery suggested that the mammoth had been caught in a flash freeze. Louis L’Amour turned quick scrap of inspiration into the opening of a science fiction novel with a man in deep jeopardy. Right at the beginning of “The Freeze,” our protagonist is “setting in for a miserable night.” The conditions are wicked. The sense of peril is obvious. It’ signature Louis L’amour.
“The Freeze” feels like a sketch. It’s full of ellipses. “The sun … how long since I clearly saw the sun?” “It was ten degrees below zero that morning but bright and cold … and then it happened.” This tincture of L’Amour prose is less than four pages long. And yet we’re instantly caught up in the plight of this cold, cold man and his will to survive.
In the same comments about “The Freeze,” Beau quotes from a 1986 journal entry by his father. “People wonder how I write so much. I wonder why I write so little. People suggest stories when my brain is loaded with stories … and (I) would be telling them by the roadside if not for this typewriter.” L’Amour goes on to describe the nugget idea of “The Freeze” and then laments, “Good story there, may never find time to write it.”
He didn’t.
Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures Vol. 2 is a deep-dive into some of the unpublished manuscripts, screenplays, short stories, and film treatments left behind by this non-stop story machine. (It’s the followup to Vol. 1, which I’ve only scanned.) Beau L’Amour’s lengthy introduction to Vol. 2, a separate but companion effort to his introduction for Vol. 1, along with his detailed notes (six pages of thoughts and background for the opening chapters of Ben Mallory, for instance) make this project an invaluable gift to L’Amour fans.
The anthology is a fascinating smorgasbord and reveals the broad range of Louis L’Amour’s relentless interests—two beginnings for an epic historical novel (“The Bastard of Brignogan”) about a one-handed man taking on a castle (and about much more); the beginning of a western (“Mac Ross”) with a creepy atmosphere; a complete adventure story (“The Quest for the Bear”) about a group of downed airmen and a deadly—and legendary—bear; the beginning of an early frontier novel (“Kills Bear”) among settlers and Indians in the northwest; and the opening seventeen chapters of the adventure novel Ben Mallory about the changing political landscape in China. And so on.
L’Amour’s easy-breezy style never varies. The writing is built for roadside storytelling or campfire sit-arounds. The emphasis is on story and mood, often led by a character channeling his inner Jack Reacher or Indiana Jones (“The Jade Eaters”) many decades before either character existed. No matter how far L’Amour’s eye roams, however, rugged landscapes are in abundance.
In Ben Mallory, for instance, the presence of an unusual mammal is the sole clue that we’re in Asia; it could easily be the U.S. frontier: “Among the icy peaks and across the alpine uplands there was silence. Only the soft hoof-falls of horse and yak, only the creek of saddle-leather and occasionally the moan of the wind. Mallory rode ahead, his rifle at hand. Occasionally he looked back. There was nothing.”
Later: “Mallory moved out a little farther from camp. The moon was rising and the shoulder of the mountain lay in vast tilted ledges, grass-covered except here and there where they were exposed…great smooth almost polished white ledges, shining in the light.” The wild, wild west is a universal thing.
The most fascinating entry here might be L’Amour’s ambitious treatment for a movie called “The Jade Eaters.” Beau L’Amour tells us it the introduction that it went into development—in fact, Universal Studios is thanked for permission to publish it. The version in Lost Treasures may be an early version, but it is a breathtaking story of adventure, jungle exploration, and a hidden civilization that may have discovered eternal youth. (“Ben! This is it!! Remember what we heard about the jade? That people who drank powdered might live forever? Well, they are apparently doing it!”)
Yes, as Beau L’Amour has stated, reading these stories is an exercise in frustration—especially since the majority of these end abruptly. Devouring these stories triggers a recurring case of readus interruptus. But each volume has 21 entries in addition to all of Beau L’Amour’s commentary, which includes Beau’s personal observations from his youth and family life along with his best analysis, if he’s not sure, of when in his father’s career a piece might have been written.
“This is the story of the debris, the chaff, the waste heat that a writer produces,” he wrote in the introduction to Vol. 1. “The stuff that never makes it to the editor’s desk. The stack of pages never graced by a final ‘The End.’”
Many of the stories may not deliver that satisfying sense of finality we all crave, but Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasurers offer ample proof of a writer could find a spark in a stray nugget and let his writing brain light up. It’s a remarkable thing to behold.
“The Freeze” feels like a sketch. It’s full of ellipses. “The sun … how long since I clearly saw the sun?” “It was ten degrees below zero that morning but bright and cold … and then it happened.” This tincture of L’Amour prose is less than four pages long. And yet we’re instantly caught up in the plight of this cold, cold man and his will to survive.
In the same comments about “The Freeze,” Beau quotes from a 1986 journal entry by his father. “People wonder how I write so much. I wonder why I write so little. People suggest stories when my brain is loaded with stories … and (I) would be telling them by the roadside if not for this typewriter.” L’Amour goes on to describe the nugget idea of “The Freeze” and then laments, “Good story there, may never find time to write it.”
He didn’t.
Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures Vol. 2 is a deep-dive into some of the unpublished manuscripts, screenplays, short stories, and film treatments left behind by this non-stop story machine. (It’s the followup to Vol. 1, which I’ve only scanned.) Beau L’Amour’s lengthy introduction to Vol. 2, a separate but companion effort to his introduction for Vol. 1, along with his detailed notes (six pages of thoughts and background for the opening chapters of Ben Mallory, for instance) make this project an invaluable gift to L’Amour fans.
The anthology is a fascinating smorgasbord and reveals the broad range of Louis L’Amour’s relentless interests—two beginnings for an epic historical novel (“The Bastard of Brignogan”) about a one-handed man taking on a castle (and about much more); the beginning of a western (“Mac Ross”) with a creepy atmosphere; a complete adventure story (“The Quest for the Bear”) about a group of downed airmen and a deadly—and legendary—bear; the beginning of an early frontier novel (“Kills Bear”) among settlers and Indians in the northwest; and the opening seventeen chapters of the adventure novel Ben Mallory about the changing political landscape in China. And so on.
L’Amour’s easy-breezy style never varies. The writing is built for roadside storytelling or campfire sit-arounds. The emphasis is on story and mood, often led by a character channeling his inner Jack Reacher or Indiana Jones (“The Jade Eaters”) many decades before either character existed. No matter how far L’Amour’s eye roams, however, rugged landscapes are in abundance.
In Ben Mallory, for instance, the presence of an unusual mammal is the sole clue that we’re in Asia; it could easily be the U.S. frontier: “Among the icy peaks and across the alpine uplands there was silence. Only the soft hoof-falls of horse and yak, only the creek of saddle-leather and occasionally the moan of the wind. Mallory rode ahead, his rifle at hand. Occasionally he looked back. There was nothing.”
Later: “Mallory moved out a little farther from camp. The moon was rising and the shoulder of the mountain lay in vast tilted ledges, grass-covered except here and there where they were exposed…great smooth almost polished white ledges, shining in the light.” The wild, wild west is a universal thing.
The most fascinating entry here might be L’Amour’s ambitious treatment for a movie called “The Jade Eaters.” Beau L’Amour tells us it the introduction that it went into development—in fact, Universal Studios is thanked for permission to publish it. The version in Lost Treasures may be an early version, but it is a breathtaking story of adventure, jungle exploration, and a hidden civilization that may have discovered eternal youth. (“Ben! This is it!! Remember what we heard about the jade? That people who drank powdered might live forever? Well, they are apparently doing it!”)
Yes, as Beau L’Amour has stated, reading these stories is an exercise in frustration—especially since the majority of these end abruptly. Devouring these stories triggers a recurring case of readus interruptus. But each volume has 21 entries in addition to all of Beau L’Amour’s commentary, which includes Beau’s personal observations from his youth and family life along with his best analysis, if he’s not sure, of when in his father’s career a piece might have been written.
“This is the story of the debris, the chaff, the waste heat that a writer produces,” he wrote in the introduction to Vol. 1. “The stuff that never makes it to the editor’s desk. The stack of pages never graced by a final ‘The End.’”
Many of the stories may not deliver that satisfying sense of finality we all crave, but Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasurers offer ample proof of a writer could find a spark in a stray nugget and let his writing brain light up. It’s a remarkable thing to behold.
October 27, 2019
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof of this book through a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate the writing of this review. No other compensation was requested or offered. As an uncorrected proof, there will be changes made in the final product.
Louis L’Amour (1908-1988) was one of the all-time great Western authors, and most of his published work is still in print one way or another, mostly in authorized editions. Writing constantly from the 1930s to the 1980s, his output was prolific. But not everything he touched got completed. Many pieces were left half-done, or weren’t quite right, or were done on speculation for movie producers. This volume contains a number of these unfinished works.
As explained in Beau L’Amour’s introduction, his father had never meant to be exclusively a writer of Westerns, and wrote many other kinds of adventure stories. It just so happened that when the pulp market dried up in the late 1940s, L’Amour wanted to move into the paperback novel field, and Westerns were both something he did very well and were in demand. And it did not hurt that John Wayne starred in a movie, Hondo, based on one of L’Amour’s stories, which the writer then turned into a full novel based on the movie.
Once successfully established as a Western novel writer, Louis L’Amour began pushing the boundaries of what his publishers would accept, moving the Sackett family saga back to colonial days, as well as trying historical fiction set in other parts of the world, and even science fiction.
The selections in this book begin with “The Bastard of Brignogan”, a historical novel about the adventures of a French ninja in India who would be the progenitor of the Talon family. It looks like it would have been a jam-packed novel full of twists and turns, but at least one of the reasons it only ever got started was trying to figure out how Talon got his ninja training.
The final piece is “Borden Chantry II”, a mystery novel starring Borden Chantry as he deals with a mysterious corpse on his land and a suspicion that not all is right in the town he’s the marshal for. Presumably it would have had a better title if finished–this was apparently one of the stories Mr. L’Amour was working on in his final days. The mystery aspect is spoiled a bit by suddenly switching to the bad guys’ perspective, but the writing gets more confident at the same time.
The biggest chunk of this book is seventeen! chapters of “Ben Mallory”, an adventure novel set in Chinese-occupied Tibet. The title character is on a journey with the isolated tribe of warriors who have adopted him to get out of the country so they can get weapons to keep the Red Chinese off their territory. Along the way, they run into both an American scientific expedition and a lama who is being sought by the Chinese army to become a puppet for the Communist regime.
This long fragment shows off L’Amour’s research skills and lets him stretch his more mystical side as a writer. (Does reincarnation truly exist? Is the yeti real or is it just a scarily competent human mountain dweller? How does that one man manage to keep getting ahead of Mallory without leaving tracks?)
There’s a bit of “mighty whitey” in the way Mallory is set up. (That’s when a white Westerner comes to a foreign land and is better at what the natives do than the natives are plus having the advantages of Western education/civilization.) To temper this a bit, one of Mallory’s foils is Gunther Hart, who thinks he’s a mighty whitey, but in fact is just ridiculously wealthy so everything he wanted was just handed to him.
This one might have been a blockbuster back in the day, but would be difficult to get published now.
Also of note: “The Jade Eaters”, an SFnal movie treatment set in Mexico that went far enough that Universal still owns the rights (but allowed to be published here) and “The Freeze”, the beginning of a short story set during a new Ice Age.
I like the typography; the manuscripts are presented in an old-fashioned manual typewriter font, while the editorial comments by Beau are in a more standard modern typeface. All the stories have such comments about the background of the manuscripts and tales from L’Amour’s life, and there are a number of black and white photographs throughout.
Because of the unfinished nature of most of the pieces, I was often frustrated by cut-offs just when the story was “getting good.” I would not recommend this (or Lost Treasures Volume 1) as anyone’s first Louis L’Amour book. This volume is strictly for seasoned fans who can appreciate the might-have-beens.
Instead, newer fans might want to check out the new “Lost Treasures” editions of some of L’Amour’s finished books like Last of the Breed and How the West Was Won which have additional editorial notes, short stories that the novels were expanded from, and other fan-aimed material.
But if you’re a seasoned fan looking for fanfic ideas or just some more good Louis L’Amour writing, this one’s a keeper.
Louis L’Amour (1908-1988) was one of the all-time great Western authors, and most of his published work is still in print one way or another, mostly in authorized editions. Writing constantly from the 1930s to the 1980s, his output was prolific. But not everything he touched got completed. Many pieces were left half-done, or weren’t quite right, or were done on speculation for movie producers. This volume contains a number of these unfinished works.
As explained in Beau L’Amour’s introduction, his father had never meant to be exclusively a writer of Westerns, and wrote many other kinds of adventure stories. It just so happened that when the pulp market dried up in the late 1940s, L’Amour wanted to move into the paperback novel field, and Westerns were both something he did very well and were in demand. And it did not hurt that John Wayne starred in a movie, Hondo, based on one of L’Amour’s stories, which the writer then turned into a full novel based on the movie.
Once successfully established as a Western novel writer, Louis L’Amour began pushing the boundaries of what his publishers would accept, moving the Sackett family saga back to colonial days, as well as trying historical fiction set in other parts of the world, and even science fiction.
The selections in this book begin with “The Bastard of Brignogan”, a historical novel about the adventures of a French ninja in India who would be the progenitor of the Talon family. It looks like it would have been a jam-packed novel full of twists and turns, but at least one of the reasons it only ever got started was trying to figure out how Talon got his ninja training.
The final piece is “Borden Chantry II”, a mystery novel starring Borden Chantry as he deals with a mysterious corpse on his land and a suspicion that not all is right in the town he’s the marshal for. Presumably it would have had a better title if finished–this was apparently one of the stories Mr. L’Amour was working on in his final days. The mystery aspect is spoiled a bit by suddenly switching to the bad guys’ perspective, but the writing gets more confident at the same time.
The biggest chunk of this book is seventeen! chapters of “Ben Mallory”, an adventure novel set in Chinese-occupied Tibet. The title character is on a journey with the isolated tribe of warriors who have adopted him to get out of the country so they can get weapons to keep the Red Chinese off their territory. Along the way, they run into both an American scientific expedition and a lama who is being sought by the Chinese army to become a puppet for the Communist regime.
This long fragment shows off L’Amour’s research skills and lets him stretch his more mystical side as a writer. (Does reincarnation truly exist? Is the yeti real or is it just a scarily competent human mountain dweller? How does that one man manage to keep getting ahead of Mallory without leaving tracks?)
There’s a bit of “mighty whitey” in the way Mallory is set up. (That’s when a white Westerner comes to a foreign land and is better at what the natives do than the natives are plus having the advantages of Western education/civilization.) To temper this a bit, one of Mallory’s foils is Gunther Hart, who thinks he’s a mighty whitey, but in fact is just ridiculously wealthy so everything he wanted was just handed to him.
This one might have been a blockbuster back in the day, but would be difficult to get published now.
Also of note: “The Jade Eaters”, an SFnal movie treatment set in Mexico that went far enough that Universal still owns the rights (but allowed to be published here) and “The Freeze”, the beginning of a short story set during a new Ice Age.
I like the typography; the manuscripts are presented in an old-fashioned manual typewriter font, while the editorial comments by Beau are in a more standard modern typeface. All the stories have such comments about the background of the manuscripts and tales from L’Amour’s life, and there are a number of black and white photographs throughout.
Because of the unfinished nature of most of the pieces, I was often frustrated by cut-offs just when the story was “getting good.” I would not recommend this (or Lost Treasures Volume 1) as anyone’s first Louis L’Amour book. This volume is strictly for seasoned fans who can appreciate the might-have-beens.
Instead, newer fans might want to check out the new “Lost Treasures” editions of some of L’Amour’s finished books like Last of the Breed and How the West Was Won which have additional editorial notes, short stories that the novels were expanded from, and other fan-aimed material.
But if you’re a seasoned fan looking for fanfic ideas or just some more good Louis L’Amour writing, this one’s a keeper.
March 11, 2020
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5
I'm the type of reader who is always fascinated by the writing process, so looking at early and unfinished works by a prolific author is something that really interests me. This is the second volume of "Lost Treasures" from the Louis L'Amour and much like the first volume, this contains a wide selection of works in various states - from the first ten chapters or so of a novel, to treatments and outlines, and even two versions of the beginnings of a story. Not everything here is what we might expect of L'Amour (a western), but everything reflects his easy style.
While most of us know the name of Louis L'Amour as the writer of pulp western fiction, Louis wanted to branch out and write in other genres. But Louis was a product of a specific publishing age. The model of cheap pulp paper pumping out exciting fiction helped make him a success, but it also held him back because the publishers felt his readers would only identify with his western fiction.
In addition to the two different beginnings of a novel, I also really enjoyed reading a story or treatment and then Louis L'Amour's notes to himself - asking where the story is headed, who are the characters, what is the motivation, etc. It's as though he had a scene in his head, which he wrote down, but he had no idea what was supposed to happen from this moment.
The Louis L'Amour catalog is now managed by his son Beau L'Amour and Beau sometimes adds his own knowledge to the creation of these unfinished works. These could be overdone, or embellished, but I get the sense that Beau is being quite straightforward - sometimes admitting that he doesn't know the origins of a work, but can make a guess based on places Louis visited, and when.
The proposal for the non-fiction book sounds incredibly fascinating - it is a book I would definitely have read.
This is an unusual book, because not only are these not quite short stories, they truly are unfinished works. You have to really enjoy the writing process, or the works of Louis L'Amour, to enjoy this. Fortunately, I enjoy both.
This book contains:
WHAT IS LOUIS L’AMOUR’S LOST TREASURES?
INTRODUCTION BY BEAU L’AMOUR
1. THE BASTARD OF BRIGNOGAN: Two Beginnings to a Historical Novel
2. MAC ROSS: The Beginning of a Western Novel
3. DAM AND TIMBER: Notes for an Adventure Story
4. THE QUEST FOR THE BEAR: A Complete Adventure Story
5. KILLS BEAR: The First Three Chapters of a Frontier Novel
6. BEN MALLORY: Seventeen Chapters of an Adventure Novel
7. THE DEATH OF PETER TALON: The Beginning of a Western Novel
8. THE JADE EATERS: A Treatment for a Motion Picture
9. THE FREEZE: The Beginning of a Science Fiction Story
10. BEN MILO: The Beginning of a Crime Story
11. IN THE MEASURE OF TIME: A Complete Adventure Story
12. THE PAPAGO KID: The Beginning of a Western Novel
13. KRAK DES CHEVALIERS: A Treatment for an Adventure Story
14. IBN BATUTA: A Proposal for a Nonfiction Book
15. SHANTY: Two Beginnings to a Western Novel
16. KRAG MORAN: The Beginning of a Boxing Story
17. STAN DUVAL: The Beginning of a Crime Story
18. LOWIE: The Beginning of a Western Story
19. SOUTH OF PANAMA: A Treatment for an Adventure Story
20. THE ROCK MAN: Notes for a Television Series
21. BORDEN CHANTRY II: The First Ten Chapters of a Western Novel
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Looking for a good book? Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures: Volume 2, edited by Beau L'Amour, is another great collection of early and unfinished works by one of the great storytellers.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I'm the type of reader who is always fascinated by the writing process, so looking at early and unfinished works by a prolific author is something that really interests me. This is the second volume of "Lost Treasures" from the Louis L'Amour and much like the first volume, this contains a wide selection of works in various states - from the first ten chapters or so of a novel, to treatments and outlines, and even two versions of the beginnings of a story. Not everything here is what we might expect of L'Amour (a western), but everything reflects his easy style.
While most of us know the name of Louis L'Amour as the writer of pulp western fiction, Louis wanted to branch out and write in other genres. But Louis was a product of a specific publishing age. The model of cheap pulp paper pumping out exciting fiction helped make him a success, but it also held him back because the publishers felt his readers would only identify with his western fiction.
In addition to the two different beginnings of a novel, I also really enjoyed reading a story or treatment and then Louis L'Amour's notes to himself - asking where the story is headed, who are the characters, what is the motivation, etc. It's as though he had a scene in his head, which he wrote down, but he had no idea what was supposed to happen from this moment.
The Louis L'Amour catalog is now managed by his son Beau L'Amour and Beau sometimes adds his own knowledge to the creation of these unfinished works. These could be overdone, or embellished, but I get the sense that Beau is being quite straightforward - sometimes admitting that he doesn't know the origins of a work, but can make a guess based on places Louis visited, and when.
The proposal for the non-fiction book sounds incredibly fascinating - it is a book I would definitely have read.
This is an unusual book, because not only are these not quite short stories, they truly are unfinished works. You have to really enjoy the writing process, or the works of Louis L'Amour, to enjoy this. Fortunately, I enjoy both.
This book contains:
WHAT IS LOUIS L’AMOUR’S LOST TREASURES?
INTRODUCTION BY BEAU L’AMOUR
1. THE BASTARD OF BRIGNOGAN: Two Beginnings to a Historical Novel
2. MAC ROSS: The Beginning of a Western Novel
3. DAM AND TIMBER: Notes for an Adventure Story
4. THE QUEST FOR THE BEAR: A Complete Adventure Story
5. KILLS BEAR: The First Three Chapters of a Frontier Novel
6. BEN MALLORY: Seventeen Chapters of an Adventure Novel
7. THE DEATH OF PETER TALON: The Beginning of a Western Novel
8. THE JADE EATERS: A Treatment for a Motion Picture
9. THE FREEZE: The Beginning of a Science Fiction Story
10. BEN MILO: The Beginning of a Crime Story
11. IN THE MEASURE OF TIME: A Complete Adventure Story
12. THE PAPAGO KID: The Beginning of a Western Novel
13. KRAK DES CHEVALIERS: A Treatment for an Adventure Story
14. IBN BATUTA: A Proposal for a Nonfiction Book
15. SHANTY: Two Beginnings to a Western Novel
16. KRAG MORAN: The Beginning of a Boxing Story
17. STAN DUVAL: The Beginning of a Crime Story
18. LOWIE: The Beginning of a Western Story
19. SOUTH OF PANAMA: A Treatment for an Adventure Story
20. THE ROCK MAN: Notes for a Television Series
21. BORDEN CHANTRY II: The First Ten Chapters of a Western Novel
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Looking for a good book? Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures: Volume 2, edited by Beau L'Amour, is another great collection of early and unfinished works by one of the great storytellers.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
October 16, 2019
This is a GoodReads win review. I just loved this book. I was very thrilled to win this book. Louis L'Amour died in 1988 and he left behind many unfinished manuscripts. My father grew up in Los Angeles and as a teenager he worked at the movie studios as an extra and a stand in. In those years movies were in Hollywood on the back lots. Most of his 200 credits were in Western films. He was A Western fan his whole life. When I was in my twenties I bought him a collection of every Western Louis L'Amour had written. When he had to downside his home he donated the volumes to the library so others could enjoy them. He still checked them out and re-read them many times. He also had every movie that had been adapted from his books. He passed them down to us and we watch them often. For me this book is wonderful because his son Beau explains how much his father loved writing and he always had several manuscripts going at one time. I remember my father telling me me that Louis L'Amour went to the places he wrote about so the reader would relate to the locations and true history of each place. He was very impressed with the research that went into each book. He told me it made each book come to life. Beau went to a memorial service for Oscar Dystel who was the President of Bantam Books from the 1950's to the 1980's. He was a visionary and he became a great champion of Louis's work and they became close friends. Louis first came to Los Angeles in 1946. It was after the War and the magazine business was disrupted. Postwar editors were looking for nostalgic Westerns and not high adventure stories. He started writing short stories but he had to write many a year to earn money. Because of this he always had many stories ready. Around 1950 the pulp market began to weaken. When a glue strip was introduced to bind a book the industry changed. Louis had always wanted to be a novelist. It was a risky plan to write longer stories but he saw the future. He also started to go to the studios to sell his ideas for episodes or movies. His agent helped him sell a book treatment that became the movie Hondo with John Wayne. He also expanded writing for the new paper back market. He signed contracts with multiple publishers. Even though he enjoyed writing Westerns he was also very interested in other genres. He started writing books that be a continuing adventure of the characters. He was very unique that he would start a book and put it up for a while, then come back to it. He felt there was so much to write and so little time. He was very creative and had endless ideas. Beau is also an author, art director and an editor. He has worked in film, tv, and the magazine industries. He has become the manager of his fathers immense works he left behind and he treasures publishing these works for us to enjoy. In this book there are beginnings of historical novels that would take place in India, France, Ireland, England and New Foundland. Also found were manuscripts about adventure, Western, crime stories, a boxing story and notes for televisions series. This is a quite a long book but I loved every page. I am happy is son is publishing these unfinished projects so we can enjoy them.
October 29, 2019
What do you get the Louis L'Amour fan who has read all his books, seen all the movies and TV series, and read all the poems, short stories and biographies on their favorite author? Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures, of course.
When I saw the blurb on volume one and now, this volume two, in my mind's eye, I imagined this would be like getting the distinct pleasure of sitting at the author's desk, perusing the finished unedited manuscript pages set on one side of the typewriter, the page in the typewriter, and the bundle of notes and clippings in folders and note pages on any available surface close at hand. And, then, getting to pull open the drawers of the desk, nearby filing cabinets, notebooks on shelves, and loose files precariously piled for a good long snoop.
After reading this volume, I think my imagination was just about right except I didn’t take into account that this lovely volume comes complete with lots of candid photos of the author, his family, his travels, and people he encountered as well as photos of original letters and pages.
Lost Treasures Volume Two opens with Beau L'Amour sharing thoughts on growing up with Louis as a father, the history of his dad shifting with the times in the writing industry, and encounters with the people along the way. Beau then introduces each story fragment, movie notes, TV show story, and also follows up with more of his thoughts on where his dad was going with it.
For instance, he provides two opening sets of chapters for the Bastard of Brignogan and then his dad's planning notes for how this would fit in as his earliest, chronologically, Talon novel and where it would intersect with his Chantry and Sackett family series as well as notes for other novels in the series.
Now, I knew Louis wrote some sci-fi and mystical elements into his novels, but it was fun to discover in this batch of intriguing historical adventures, modern adventures, frontier and westerns fragments, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi. So many of these weren't much and Beau had to use his dad's notes to speculate on where it was going, but some had a good chunk of story that was more a big tease to fans who will mourn not getting that complete story.
As to the audience appeal of this book and the earlier volume one? Honestly, I think it's limited. I think huge L'Amour fans will be fascinated by this glimpse inside L'Amour's writing world as well as some who like to study the mechanics of an author's writing process through their raw work and notes. However, someone looking to try L'Amour's books should definitely start elsewhere.
All in all, this Louis L'Amour fan enjoyed flipping through this volume, picking and choosing places to stop and read more, leaping far forward, and jumping back to earlier bits using the well-organized and helpful index to guide me in my non-linear reading of this one. It sure made me wish Louis could have lived longer and kept writing some of these though I further appreciate the amazing written legacy he already has.
I rec'd this book through Net Galley from Penguin Random House to read in exchange for an honest review.
When I saw the blurb on volume one and now, this volume two, in my mind's eye, I imagined this would be like getting the distinct pleasure of sitting at the author's desk, perusing the finished unedited manuscript pages set on one side of the typewriter, the page in the typewriter, and the bundle of notes and clippings in folders and note pages on any available surface close at hand. And, then, getting to pull open the drawers of the desk, nearby filing cabinets, notebooks on shelves, and loose files precariously piled for a good long snoop.
After reading this volume, I think my imagination was just about right except I didn’t take into account that this lovely volume comes complete with lots of candid photos of the author, his family, his travels, and people he encountered as well as photos of original letters and pages.
Lost Treasures Volume Two opens with Beau L'Amour sharing thoughts on growing up with Louis as a father, the history of his dad shifting with the times in the writing industry, and encounters with the people along the way. Beau then introduces each story fragment, movie notes, TV show story, and also follows up with more of his thoughts on where his dad was going with it.
For instance, he provides two opening sets of chapters for the Bastard of Brignogan and then his dad's planning notes for how this would fit in as his earliest, chronologically, Talon novel and where it would intersect with his Chantry and Sackett family series as well as notes for other novels in the series.
Now, I knew Louis wrote some sci-fi and mystical elements into his novels, but it was fun to discover in this batch of intriguing historical adventures, modern adventures, frontier and westerns fragments, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi. So many of these weren't much and Beau had to use his dad's notes to speculate on where it was going, but some had a good chunk of story that was more a big tease to fans who will mourn not getting that complete story.
As to the audience appeal of this book and the earlier volume one? Honestly, I think it's limited. I think huge L'Amour fans will be fascinated by this glimpse inside L'Amour's writing world as well as some who like to study the mechanics of an author's writing process through their raw work and notes. However, someone looking to try L'Amour's books should definitely start elsewhere.
All in all, this Louis L'Amour fan enjoyed flipping through this volume, picking and choosing places to stop and read more, leaping far forward, and jumping back to earlier bits using the well-organized and helpful index to guide me in my non-linear reading of this one. It sure made me wish Louis could have lived longer and kept writing some of these though I further appreciate the amazing written legacy he already has.
I rec'd this book through Net Galley from Penguin Random House to read in exchange for an honest review.
July 31, 2019
It’s not the same and even Louis L’Amour’s son, Beau, the author of this compendium of L’Amour’s work will concur: nothing will replace the original. But give Beau a big Atta boy for giving it a shot. For those of us who truly miss the iconic author’s flow of great writing we, at least, have a peek at what what’s been going on these years.
A few years ago Beau decided to sift through the remnants of his dad’s immense files (and indeed immense they are) left behind after his death in 1988 in an effort to get them organized and to see what worthwhile information might be found in the collection. Volume 1 of “Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures” was published in 2017 and gave us glimpses of remnants of his notes, false starts, partial stories, and scribblings. Volume 2 has just been released and it’s just as thrilling for me, a die-hard fan. There are glimpses of things I wish had been carried to fruition because the makings of great books were visible.
Beau comments on what he finds, how he interprets the contents, inserts comments about his relationship with his father, and speculates as to the intent of the writings. His comments are insightful and indicative of their close relationship. There is much to learn about the writer’s research, quest for proper language, struggles to develop a plot, and desire to put forth the best his remarkable mind can offer.
It’s all interesting, if a bit heartbreaking, to witness his struggles to keep his prodigious output flowing. I’d like to see someone, probably Beau, take these scraps of thought and try to produce more works under L’Amour’s name. It’s been done before with other late authors with varying results. What a joy it would be to, once again, have works inspired by L’Amour (and hopefully as well done) to enjoy and look forward to. I thought Beau’s job of resurrecting “No Traveller Returns” was very good and deserving of more attempts on his part to bring his father’s works before us again. It might not work but there are those of us that are eager to see it tried.
Incidentally, a visit to L’Amour’s website, louislamour.com, is a visit well envisioned. It’s immense and contains a treasure-trove of information about his life and work. One can spend many hours there reliving the life of this remarkable author.
October 7, 2019
Full disclosure: I am a long-time fan of Louis L’Amour. Some of his writings are better than others, though in my mind he is such an excellent story teller that even his lesser work is worth reading. As a writer myself, I am always interested in the thoughts and processes used by successful writers. So LOUIS L’AMOUR’S LOST TREASURES, VOLUME 2 by Louis L’Amour with Beau L’Amour proved irresistible.
This is the second volume in a series where Beau L’Amour, son of the famous writer, collects unfinished stories, notes, rough drafts and so on from his late father’s files. Beau then provides comments, such as childhood memories, his father’s creative process, and so on.
The result is less than I had hoped.
The work here, as one would expect, reads like rough drafts. The ideas are quite interesting, told in the inimitable L’Amour style. One can also see how the author is almost “thinking aloud” as he writes: Too much background exposition, unclear sense of what the story is about or its direction, gaps in the narrative, and so on. Even so, the stories pull the reader in, as usual with L’Amour, only to have most of them end abruptly without resolution.
I would have liked to see the comments with more insights, details, or analysis. Most of them provide too-sketchy information about when the work was printed or speculates about what L’Amour may have been thinking while developing his ideas.
I understood the stories and fragments to be the original work of Louis L’Amour’s, which in its raw state could be valuable to a person wishing to dig deeper (even if not in a scholarly vein). I was somewhat taken aback, therefore, when Beau L’Amour admitted this is not the case. He said in one place that “I have done some judicious editing” and in another that “I’ve removed a good deal of excessive and redundant description and rejiggered the odd paragraph structure in this manuscript to make it more readable.”
This volume is worthwhile because could be of some interest to hard-core Louis L’Amour fans, even though it may not provide that much new information or understanding to his work.
This is the second volume in a series where Beau L’Amour, son of the famous writer, collects unfinished stories, notes, rough drafts and so on from his late father’s files. Beau then provides comments, such as childhood memories, his father’s creative process, and so on.
The result is less than I had hoped.
The work here, as one would expect, reads like rough drafts. The ideas are quite interesting, told in the inimitable L’Amour style. One can also see how the author is almost “thinking aloud” as he writes: Too much background exposition, unclear sense of what the story is about or its direction, gaps in the narrative, and so on. Even so, the stories pull the reader in, as usual with L’Amour, only to have most of them end abruptly without resolution.
I would have liked to see the comments with more insights, details, or analysis. Most of them provide too-sketchy information about when the work was printed or speculates about what L’Amour may have been thinking while developing his ideas.
I understood the stories and fragments to be the original work of Louis L’Amour’s, which in its raw state could be valuable to a person wishing to dig deeper (even if not in a scholarly vein). I was somewhat taken aback, therefore, when Beau L’Amour admitted this is not the case. He said in one place that “I have done some judicious editing” and in another that “I’ve removed a good deal of excessive and redundant description and rejiggered the odd paragraph structure in this manuscript to make it more readable.”
This volume is worthwhile because could be of some interest to hard-core Louis L’Amour fans, even though it may not provide that much new information or understanding to his work.
December 2, 2019
“I am on the verge of becoming a good writer, all I need is time.”
A writer rarely dies with all his or her stories completed. There are fragments, drafts and ideas left behind. Louis L’Amour left behind many pages of writing that his son, Beau, has decided to sort through and release certain well-crafted stories in Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 2. These snippets give readers a view into some of the other ideas L’Amour had been working on. His son, Beau, offers insights into what time periods they were written and how his father’s upbringing or life experiences may have impacted that certain story.
I was able to get an advanced copy of the book through NetGalley. I enjoyed reading Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 1, so I was curious what stories would be in the second volume. I have only read one other L’Amour book – Sitka – but I really liked it. It was set mostly in Alaska’s wilderness.
Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 2, has several Western stories, but also a mystery, a sci-fi story and some movie proposals. Most of them are just a few chapters, but there are two that are more than 15 chapters long. I wasn’t expecting such long sections. However, each and every story had me hooked. One especially was fascinating with a man stumbling upon his childhood home and finding the grave of a sibling. Another one had a man being accused of the murder of a woman he met years and years ago, but hadn’t seen since – yet lived in the town he was happening to visit. The police suspect him so he goes on the run. Of course, the hard part of reading these stories is knowing that you won’t find out how they end.
Fans of L’Amour will really enjoy Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 2. I think readers of good fiction will also enjoy it as the stories are really well written. It could be read slowly, a story at a time.
Read more here: https://sarahannecarter.com/louis-lam...
A writer rarely dies with all his or her stories completed. There are fragments, drafts and ideas left behind. Louis L’Amour left behind many pages of writing that his son, Beau, has decided to sort through and release certain well-crafted stories in Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 2. These snippets give readers a view into some of the other ideas L’Amour had been working on. His son, Beau, offers insights into what time periods they were written and how his father’s upbringing or life experiences may have impacted that certain story.
I was able to get an advanced copy of the book through NetGalley. I enjoyed reading Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 1, so I was curious what stories would be in the second volume. I have only read one other L’Amour book – Sitka – but I really liked it. It was set mostly in Alaska’s wilderness.
Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 2, has several Western stories, but also a mystery, a sci-fi story and some movie proposals. Most of them are just a few chapters, but there are two that are more than 15 chapters long. I wasn’t expecting such long sections. However, each and every story had me hooked. One especially was fascinating with a man stumbling upon his childhood home and finding the grave of a sibling. Another one had a man being accused of the murder of a woman he met years and years ago, but hadn’t seen since – yet lived in the town he was happening to visit. The police suspect him so he goes on the run. Of course, the hard part of reading these stories is knowing that you won’t find out how they end.
Fans of L’Amour will really enjoy Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures, Vol. 2. I think readers of good fiction will also enjoy it as the stories are really well written. It could be read slowly, a story at a time.
Read more here: https://sarahannecarter.com/louis-lam...
August 1, 2019
As indicated in the title, this is the second in a series of books compiled by Louis L'Amour's son Beau consisting of unpublished manuscripts and lost stories by the father. The son also contributes a running narrative throughout the book on a numbe of subjects which will add to the enjoyment of die hard Louis L'Amour fans. I would not recommend this book to anyone who has not read a number of Louis L'Amour books as they will provide a great deal of insight to the thoughts provided by the son.
I received a free Kindle ARC courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would provide an honest review and post it on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
I received a free Kindle ARC courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would provide an honest review and post it on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
April 3, 2023
A few words from a lifelong fan
My first Louis lamour book was Sackett Brand: I was hooked! I've read them all, I think!
I live on the Devoy place mentioned in Borden Chantry. My great grandfather moved to NM from Texas in 1882, purchased the Devoy ranch from his estate in 1914 and left it to my dad. I enjoyed the historical aspects of what your dad wrote, I have ridden over some of the country he wrote about and driven threw a lot more.
Lost Treasures gives insight to the thoughts of the brilliant writer so many of us enjoyed for so many years. I still go back and read them over: just finished Cumstock Load for the first time since it was purchased how many years ago? It was like a brand new book! They never get old. Keep up the good work!!!
My first Louis lamour book was Sackett Brand: I was hooked! I've read them all, I think!
I live on the Devoy place mentioned in Borden Chantry. My great grandfather moved to NM from Texas in 1882, purchased the Devoy ranch from his estate in 1914 and left it to my dad. I enjoyed the historical aspects of what your dad wrote, I have ridden over some of the country he wrote about and driven threw a lot more.
Lost Treasures gives insight to the thoughts of the brilliant writer so many of us enjoyed for so many years. I still go back and read them over: just finished Cumstock Load for the first time since it was purchased how many years ago? It was like a brand new book! They never get old. Keep up the good work!!!
July 20, 2019
I've spent many an evening lost in a Louis L'Amour book. I've read so many that is hard for me to find any I have not read. I've read his westerns, of course, but also so many of his books set in another time and country, that I can see in my mind the families of characters he built. Now the Lost Treasures series gives us chance to see how Louis L'Amour pulled the stories from his mind to share with us on the printed page. It was fascinating to have a peek into his writing methods. This book is not just for L'Amour fans. I've often wondered how any author gets a complete story from a random idea. Treat yourself and read this book.
March 25, 2020
What a great reminder of what made Louis L’Amour such fun to read so many years ago. I picked up my first book of his 28 years ago, and I had just reread my favorite, “Last of the Breed,” on a whim last week. I found this on the best-sellers display at the library before all of this crazy Covid-19 stuff, and I am so glad I picked it up before the library closed. My favorite in this book was a short story called,”The Quest for The Bear.” What fun! Definitely worth reading if you’re a fan.
May 25, 2020
This book is not a work of fiction in one sense, but in another it is the pilgrimage if a western writer in the closing days if the American west. Some of LL's wanderings turned into novels and other commentary described life of the late 18th and early 19th centuries inter mixed with LL's wanderings across the western frontier. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
August 30, 2021
The writing style reminded me of the short stories in middle school. If the comments preceded the story, like it did in school text, it would have been a more enjoyable read, especially as these are unfinished texts.
August 13, 2019
Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures: Volume 2 is a wonderful read. I highly recommend it for Louis L'Amour fans. Five stars.
April 20, 2021
Great introduction to this amazing author
December 21, 2021
Unfinished stories by the master, with excellent historical facts.
May 28, 2024
very interesting
This is a very good book, that tells about a fantastic author of western books.
Thank you very much for this book plus Volume 1.
This is a very good book, that tells about a fantastic author of western books.
Thank you very much for this book plus Volume 1.
March 17, 2025
So grateful for Beau's hard work in putting all this together.
November 7, 2025
More of Louis L'Amour's notes, thoughts, false starts, and ideas for books. I love the insight these Lost Treasures books give on the author.
December 22, 2022
Published in 2019, 'Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures Volume 2' is a selection of unfinished fragments bracketed by biographical details, and compiled by Beau L'Amour. The fragments are mostly of poor quality with one or two exceptions, although this may be due in some instances to not having been 'polished' or edited on the way to publication. Many of the items represent the authors many attempts to break away from Western novels; in so doing, the adventure novels that result seem like a poor pastiche of 1930s adventure stories, with little chance of acceptance by a publisher in the 1960s or 1970s in my opinion. If you have read a lot of Louis L'Amour fiction, this makes an interesting read, but if you have not then it is best avoided.
September 21, 2021
I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway. I've read a few other things by the author.
Due to a mess up at thanksgiving and a number of missed opportunities since then I haven't finished the book yet but I will as soon as I get it back.
I really like L'Amour's writing style and his ability to craft an interesting story is amazing, the downside here is that many of these works aren't finished and just about the time things start moving along there isn't any more story. I like the background information that his son provides in the book. I'm definitely a fan but I think I really need to read his completed works as this book just gets my hopes up before leaving me hanging.
Due to a mess up at thanksgiving and a number of missed opportunities since then I haven't finished the book yet but I will as soon as I get it back.
I really like L'Amour's writing style and his ability to craft an interesting story is amazing, the downside here is that many of these works aren't finished and just about the time things start moving along there isn't any more story. I like the background information that his son provides in the book. I'm definitely a fan but I think I really need to read his completed works as this book just gets my hopes up before leaving me hanging.
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