The American Cowboy

by Will James

James, Will

Genres: Westerns

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Will James, artist and writer of the American West, was born Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault. It was during his creative years everyone grew to know him as Will James. During the next several years, he drifted, worked at several jobs, was briefly jailed for cattle rustling, served in the army, and began selling his sketches and in 1922 sold his first writing, Bucking Horse Riders. The sale of several books followed.

An artist and author of books about the American west and, in particular, horses, Will James wrote the 1926 book "Smoky the Cowhorse". It was awarded the John Newbery Medal in 1927, and remains in print to this day. Several movie adaptations of the story have been created, including a 1933 version that included Will James himself as the narrator.

His fictionalized autobiography, Lone Cowboy, was written in 1930. He also wrote Home Ranch (1935) and he wrote his last book, The American Cowboy, in 1942. In all, he wrote and illustrated 23 books.

In 1991, Will James was named a member of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will James Book of Cowboy Stories is the best of Will James, but this book is good. The part about Bill’s experience serving in the First World War is especially interesting.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a piece of fiction, this reads more like a 'history' of how the cowboy's role changed in America by following a father and son through their lives. From the initial trail laying, when cows and horses were wild, and Indians still roamed free, through the fencing of the ranges and the 1st World War. There isn't a huge amount of depth to the characters and there's no real plot - it's definitely a tell, don't show, kind of book - but the writing style is easy to read and very invocative of the 'Wild West'. But the gorgeous black and white sketches make this book worth picking up - they are very simple and yet brilliantly capture the character of the men and horses, a lot more than the writing does.

If you're looking for a gun-toting, cow rustling, action packed Western, then this probably isn't for you. But as mirror of history it does a pretty good job. Well worth the read.