Fightin' Fool

by Max Brand

Two gunslingers known as Jingo and the Parson form a two-man army in Tower Creek to deal with the dangerous Rankin brothers in a conflict over a dishonest poker game

Genres: Westerns

141 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1933

About the author

Frederick Schiller Faust (see also Frederick Faust), aka Frank Austin, George Owen Baxter, Walter C. Butler, George Challis, Evin Evan, Evan Evans, Frederick Faust, John Frederick, Frederick Frost, David Manning, Peter Henry Morland, Lee Bolt, Peter Dawson, Martin Dexter, Dennis Lawson, M.B., Hugh Owen, Nicholas Silver

Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.

Reviews

[Mateo Tomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Jingo is another young rascal and unstoppable force of brains and mouth and cards. He befriends The Parson, a brute but salt of the earth man. Wheeler Bent is the gold moustachioed young prick who aims to own the affections of the lovely Eugenia Tyrell and her wealthy and wise father.
Action/comedy. The last battle is fun, the ending a little short, but a fun story that flys by.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Fightin' Fool" has the basic character types one runs across in Max Brand westerns. The heroine is beautiful and well-spoken (considerably more so than the hero). She is also the only daughter of a rich judge. The hero, Jingo, lives by his wits and shooting ability on the edge of legality. However, he has charisma and a certain sense of honour.

As I've noticed in other books by Max Brand, the villains have rather interesting characters and one even believes in fair play--though this doesn't prevent him from doing his best to inconvenience the hero and help Jingo's nasty romantic rival for a price.

The Parson, a huge powerful man, is the indispensable side-kick of Jingo and is important and interesting in his own right.

The ending is perhaps not completely satisfying as it does leave some loose ends. Still, there is plenty of exciting action and for the most part it is an enjoyable read.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a simple western drama of romance and bromance, with a compelling lead character, and more comedy than action. The dialogue here is reminiscent of screwball comedy in Western dialect, and the plotting combines standard Western adventure with the sort of hijinks found in the movie version of Destry Rides Again. It was a little hard to understand the instant bromantic chemistry between the two cowboys who tear through this novel, and I found the final fight between the villains and the inseparable cowboys hard to visualize, but these are quibbles. This one is a blast, and worth the time spent.

[Mike Grady · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple romance from Max Brand mixed in with some action. A quick read!

[William Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

First 100 pages of this are fun to read. It's witty in a way that few books are and just a tad ridiculous. The ending sort of falls flat but the first half more than makes it worth reading

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second recent read of pulp western fiction. The previous one was "The Lost Wagon Train" by Zane Grey. This one is similar... Gun-totin', mysterious young stranger comes to town and gets involved with a beautiful gal and her rich rancher father; a tough, dangerous, deadly violent scene near the end and a near-villain tempted by the dark side decides to reform and ask for forgiveness. Was the "real" West anything like this? Probably not much but it's still fun to read these books. Judging by just these two examples I'd say that MB was a better writer than ZG but this book at least lacked the historical and geographical scope of "The Lost Wagon Train". The edition I rescued from the transfer station is paperback from 1946 with a different cover. I think it's the oldest paperback on my shelves and includes a two-page listing of other Pocket books. 3.5 stars... I just read Max Brand's Wiki page. Very interesting.

[Cws]

W Bra

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

a.k.a. A Fairly Slick Guy; read some time in 1994