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Thelwells Western-Reiter
Thelwell Goes West is a unique guide to the wild and woolly West. If you've ever yearned to gallop a golden palomino along the cowboy trails or dreamed of leaping into the saddle from an upper window of the Golden Nugget Saloon and quitting town in a hail of bullets, this is the book for you.Slipped under the Stetson it could mean survival if you should - by any chance - bounce your head at the rodeo. Stuffed up the shirtfront, it might even stop a bullet at twenty paces.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
Norman Thelwell
99 books21 followersNorman Thelwell was an English cartoonist well-known for his humorous illustrations of ponies and horses. A promising young student from Liverpool College of Art, he soon became a contributor to the satirical magazine Punch in the 1950s, and earned many lasting devotees by illustrating Chicko in the British boys' comic Eagle.
Known to many only as Thelwell, he found his true comic niche with Pony Club girls and ponies refusing fences, a subject for which he became best-known. His cartoons and drawings delighted millions.
For the last quarter of a century of his life he lived in the Test Valley at Timsbury, near Romsey, gradually restoring a farm house and landscaping the grounds which gave rise to his first factual book, A Plank Bridge by a Pool, which detailed the first two lakes he dug there. A third lake was later featured on the BBC’s South Today programme. Written much earlier, but published three years later, A Millstone Round My Neck described his experiences in re-building a Cornish water mill (Addicroft Mill at Liskeard, which he called Penruin), that was sold before the book was published. He always loved old buildings, and in his auto-biography, Wrestling with a Pencil wrote about his joy in the beauty of old cottages.
Known to many only as Thelwell, he found his true comic niche with Pony Club girls and ponies refusing fences, a subject for which he became best-known. His cartoons and drawings delighted millions.
For the last quarter of a century of his life he lived in the Test Valley at Timsbury, near Romsey, gradually restoring a farm house and landscaping the grounds which gave rise to his first factual book, A Plank Bridge by a Pool, which detailed the first two lakes he dug there. A third lake was later featured on the BBC’s South Today programme. Written much earlier, but published three years later, A Millstone Round My Neck described his experiences in re-building a Cornish water mill (Addicroft Mill at Liskeard, which he called Penruin), that was sold before the book was published. He always loved old buildings, and in his auto-biography, Wrestling with a Pencil wrote about his joy in the beauty of old cottages.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 29, 2021
It's a Thelwell book so it makes good natured fun of horses and riding.
Forewarning, the depiction of Native Americans is dated in terms of the artwork, but the cowboys are the ones being mocked.
Forewarning, the depiction of Native Americans is dated in terms of the artwork, but the cowboys are the ones being mocked.
May 8, 2018
How good is Thelwell Goes West? My copy got stolen by my fellow classmates at Delaware County Christian School. Yeah, my Christian classmates -- one of you fuckers owes me a replacement copy of this book.
No wonder I became an atheist.
In other words, if you love horses or just love a good laugh, get this book and keep it under lock and key. Trust a Brit to nail a very American institution (Western riding) on its head.
No wonder I became an atheist.
In other words, if you love horses or just love a good laugh, get this book and keep it under lock and key. Trust a Brit to nail a very American institution (Western riding) on its head.
January 17, 2025
If you follow my reviews you know that I am into cartoons and comics. Norman Thelwell was brought to my attention by a friend who had lived in England for several years. His perspective of cowboys is very interesting...sometimes someone removed from a particular culture (he was English) is able to provide deep insight that escapes those immersed in the culture. Will look for more of his books.
October 22, 2020
Very plain and simple book. The pictures are well done and quite comical, which I think was the whole point. I just didn’t enjoy the written content.
October 8, 2022
Cute quick read
Read
June 20, 2011My copy has no dust jacket, and is so worn the spine title is illegible. But there are no loose pages or anything, and the pages are still pretty intact. Not even any significant discoloration yet.
Thelwell's drawings are funniest in the contrast between the captions and the drawings. But they'd be funny without the captions, often. The horse's expressions are often priceless, and nobody draws a shying horse or a falling rider better. Somewhere I have a cartoon by another artist showing a child who's obviously just fallen off her horse, and the caption is to the effect that the cap of the humiliation was that Mr Thelwell was right in the front row.
The title of this book notwithstanding, I'd be prepared to bet that Thelwell never got west of the Pecos--or even the Mississippi. His drawings are very funny--but not very accurate.
Thelwell's drawings are funniest in the contrast between the captions and the drawings. But they'd be funny without the captions, often. The horse's expressions are often priceless, and nobody draws a shying horse or a falling rider better. Somewhere I have a cartoon by another artist showing a child who's obviously just fallen off her horse, and the caption is to the effect that the cap of the humiliation was that Mr Thelwell was right in the front row.
The title of this book notwithstanding, I'd be prepared to bet that Thelwell never got west of the Pecos--or even the Mississippi. His drawings are very funny--but not very accurate.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews