Cloudy in the West

by Elmer Kelton

In the Old West, twelve-year-old Joey Shipman runs away from his stepmother's home, only to find that a murderous relative is on his trail and that his only hope lies in the help of a drunk, a prostitute, an outlaw, and a sheepman

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Elmer Kelton (1926-2009) was award-winning author of more than forty novels, including The Time It Never Rained, Other Men’s Horses, Texas Standoff and Hard Trail to Follow. He grew up on a ranch near Crane, Texas, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas. His first novel, Hot Iron, was published in 1956. Among his awards have been seven Spurs from Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. His novel The Good Old Boys was made into a television film starring Tommy Lee Jones. In addition to his novels, Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist for 42 years. He served in the infantry in World War II. He died in 2009.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/elmerk...

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really two and a half stars. Western coming of age story about an orphan boy on the run from his step mother, who wants him dead so she can inherit the family farm. He tries to find his only living adult relative - a cousin with a knack for getting into trouble. Together, they find adventure and each one grows into a better person than they had been when apart.

I took off a half star, because sometimes the story seemed to drag, and nothing much happened. This is more a character study than an action novel. An ok read, but nothing special.

[Titus Burley · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a folksy delivery to Cloudy In The West that I enjoyed. It is essentially a coming of age story written from the perspective of a twelve year old boy. It is a combined adventure yarn and morality tale and has moments of insight and wisdom that caused me to read certain passages deliberately. It is the first Kelton book - a revered Texas author - that I've read and I'll likely read him again.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fast paced Western, and it is told from a unique point of you.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Joey Shipman's father dies his stepmother tries to murder in order to get the family farm. He runs away from home to search out his cousin in Bastrop. Almost immediately the two are on the run and are taken prisoners by outlaws. Kelton has produced anotjer enjoyable Western

[Laci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, so I'm giving it the better of the two considered ratings. At first, I started to think that this kind of book might just not be for me; it looked like the author tried to use pretty much every cliche and dead horse trope he could find. But then, maybe after the first third, it got better. It still wasn't something I'd actively look for; but a lot more enjoyable than the few other books in this genre I've read. (I've listened to an audio version; in the first third, when I got bored, I wondered whether to drop it; I decided to listen to it at 1.6 speed instead. That might've helped. :)

[Janet Popish · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like western novels and have never read Elmer Kelton's, you should give him a try. There is not a lot of sex or violence in them. His characters are well drawn. Some of them are stereotypes, but that is to be expected in a western, where the outlaw or wicked woman often ends up having a heart of gold.

[Joe Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this book, a True Grit type of story, I slowed down my reading when I got to the last 50 or so pages because I didn't want it to end. I liked the characters, the storyline, and the writing. I've read Kelton previously and this book met my expectations. Actually, exceeded them.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fast-paced story with a lot of thrills and woes. But as usual, Elmer Kelton does his magic. You will not want to put it down.

[Clara Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is plenty of action and suspense to keep the readers attention. Almost all of his villains had some redeeming characteristics. Only two were unredeemable bad. His good guys were mostly just good. The story did not have an ending that so evident that the reader could have guess correctly without reading the whole story. The author had his characters riding 250 mile on horse back without giving adequate time for the horse to rest and graze. To have ridden horses the way he describes they woul be dead long before he was half way finished with his story. His story works with cars in which you just fill up with gas. Horses must be rested every so often and they cannot be loped,trotted or run for very long.

[G Alex Garver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great coming of age story! Read it out loud to my kids as a summer book. It held their attention (late elementary and middle school) and then we visted some places described in the book. Love this book.

[James Pepin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple story about early Texas life. Simple but draws you into the lives of the characters. The more I read the more I wanted the story to continue until it reached a happy ending. That was achieved but with a few unexpected twists before the finale.

[Pamela Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dependable old cowboy book. I do so enjoy westerns!

[Todd Haines · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good western story but not in my top 10 list. Still like the author and will keep reading.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad for what it is. Plot kept moving and was interesting throughout.

[Sandra Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a treat to read an Elmer Kelton tale. He never fails to capture to heart of early Texas.

[Monte Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s such a great western. Elmer Kelton is one of the best writers in this genre. He really knows how to build the characters and develop them to where you never want to put the book down.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud with the kids.
Meh.
2.5 stars

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story!

[Will G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A smooth read with plenty of humor, wit, and an element of mystery.

[John Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelton the Best Ever

I have read all of Elmer Kelton’s novels at least once and thoroughly enjoy reading-reading e them. This coming of age tale is his better ones.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most atypical Western.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You're totin' around a lot of trouble for a boy your age."
"I reckon I'm big enough to carry it."

Joey Shipman's evil stepmother wants to sell the ranch that his father left him after his suspicious passing, and some frightful events and personal losses send 12-year-old Joey on the run to find his no-good cousin Beau to help him.

Verdict: A good Kelton western, "Cloudy in the West" (1997) can be a bit predictable at times but is overall a smart western tale of growth, survival, morality, and forgiveness.

Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cloudy in the West (1997)

This is another stellar western novel by Elmer Kelton. Joe Shipman is a twelve year old living with his hard scrabble farmer father in the Texas Llano River country. Ma dies and marries a hot young thing named Dulcie who ends up having an affair with Blair Meacham, a “cousin” who helps her kill Joey’s pa. Then they kill the Negro hand Reuben for protecting Joey. Joey takes off with Blair in pursuit. He connects with his father’s drunken cousin Beau, a hooker named Alta, and various sorts, including a likeable badman named Miller Dawson. One thing I like about Kelton is that his characters are, for the most part, good people or striving to be good people and when they do bad things you can see the human part of them anyway. This certainly has aspects of Huck Finn in it, and there is even a reference to the book Tom Sawyer, but it also reminds me a lot of Forrest Carter’s Outlaw Josey Wales, and the film made of same. Again, as I’ve written about Kelton before, he sticks closely to the frames of the genre, a journey, a conflict resolved through violence between a hero of sorts and a villain of sorts, but by this novel, written in the mid nineteen nineties, you have to look a little harder to find the formula. I don’t know if you can ever say one writer is the best representation of the genre for an entire century, but you can at least understand how Western Writers of America so praised Kelton. The greatest aren’t always the most influential, and certainly not the most read (Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey are both of those but neither is a great writer though both are historically important), but I get giving Kelton this title. Way to go, Elmer.

[Alyx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elmer Kelton. Enough said!
Another superb book from Kelton. Every one of his books that I have read, has been unique from the a-typical western. Yes, there are some characteristics that most westerns have: horses, guns, dust, cattle, slight romantic plot. But how he combines these pieces and sets a plot is quite special.

This along with Pumpkin Rollers have been some of my most favorite books I have read in the past year. Can't wait to read more of them!

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book (4 1/2 stars if I could) by Kelton about a 12-year old boy who goes on the lam from his murderous step-mother and her new husband. The only family he has is an older drunken 2nd cousin who wants nothing to do with him. Recommended!

[Sherrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know that I learned anything....but I like his books as I have indicated before

[James Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

first book that i have read by Elmer Kelton. I like his different approach to eh western.

[Pat Fahrenthold · Rating 3 out of 5]

12 year-old Joey Shipman runs away from home after his father dies, meets a cousin, and heads to California.

[Susann Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book opens with a boy hacking his stepmother to death with a hoe. I had to stop and make sure I was indeed reading Elmer Kelton and not Elmore Leonard.