Title: The coming of the kid
First published: 1985
Description: The adventures of a tenderhearted lush who talks to horses, a red-headed stinkpot brat, a dwarf with a traveling pharmacy, a world-weary grizzly named Duke, an army of dark, violent riders, and perhaps even the Devil himself-- all are part of the magic of The Coming of the Kid. In this salty and irresistible fable, Oakley Hall pays homage to the legends of the Old West, serving them up with subversive good humor. This is the story of how the marvelous and long-awaited Kid, preceded by a host of phonies, is finally summoned to rescue the Territory from Big Mac, the outlaw king, and his corrupt followers. A gathering of unforgettable characters is heard from ; each tells his share of the tale, and each vivid new voice puts a new and uncanny angle on things. There is Henry "Holdfast" Plummer, the dark and puritanical marshal and whorehouse bounce; J.D. Dockerty, who falls off a horse with the glorious Milady-- with the golden Florrie as a consequence; the gentle Lieutenant Grace, who runs out of luck and is struck as blind as Oedipus; and there is the marvelous Kid-- found as a babe (some say) floating down the river in a coffin. With the abundant humor and skeptical affection that characterize the work of Mark Twain, Hall delivers a wonderfully gritty frontier landscape of dusty mesas and rockstrewn peaks, fabulous lost mines and Victorian castles. It's landscape peopled with sad, drunken cavalry and crazy Kimanches, shadowy madams and virginal schoolmarms, Chinese cooks and Frenchmen named Frenchie, and the ghosts of some wonderful characters that fans of the classic Warlock and The Bad Lands will recognize. A bawdy, magical and thoroughly engaging novel from the author of The Downhill Racers and The Children of the Sun -- Book jacket.
Subjects: American literature, Western stories
LC classification: PS3558.A373 C58 1985