This work of historical fiction reads like a history book but a very entertaining one. This is a fair study of the foundations of our western culture, focusing on hero worship, and our propensity for violence. Jesse James is such a fascinating American figure - because he represents the dichotomy of the American experiment. Ron Hansen's writing is often illuminating and wonderful but sometimes gets bogged down by focusing on the historical accounts...Bob did this...Bod went here...and when he does this his writing gets a bit dry. However, overall, this book is a wonderful black and white portrait of time and a group of famous persons. ( )

Historical fiction of the last few crimes of the James Gang, the death of Jesse James, and the subsequent struggles of those involved in his death, particularly the man who pulled the trigger, Robert Ford. I had purchased this book thinking it was non-fiction; however, it is clearly historical fiction. From subsequent research, it appears to be based on facts. The dialogue, which obviously had to be invented, is believable. James is portrayed as a complex personality. He is simultaneously a remorseless killer and a family man.

Hansen provides a vivid picture of life in the late 1800’s in scenes such as:
“It was March then and the weather was nasty and the road was ice and muck and scrambled wagon ruts. Their saddles creaked with every movement and their two horses were morose: their nostrils were frosted and their manes were braided with icicles and if they rested the animals their coats would steam in the cold.”

This book highlights one of the first celebrity obsessions. Robert Ford is fixated on Jesse James and believes he will become a celebrity himself by association, especially by the act of killing him. It excels as a portrait of two complex men of historical significance, but I am not sure it entirely succeeds as fiction, as it does not provide rationale for James’ choice to pursue a life of robbery and murder, nor does it explain the entrancing appeal James exerts on his followers. Hansen’s writing style occasionally slips into one more associated with narrative non-fiction. Recommended to those interested in the American West of the late 19th century, the life of notorious outlaws, or the origins of celebrity adulation. ( )

Oh wow, finally finished it. This was my pick for a novel based on true facts, and boy, was I sucked in learning about this! I was greatly taken to the person of Jesse James, even though he was completely mad (there are few characters in this novel who are not). So I thoroughly enjoyed the first two parts of the book. The third part deals with the aftermath of the novel's main event (spoiler: an assassination) and that, to me, dragged on, but mostly because I was not much invested in the characters focused on.
Hansen writes comfortably, his style throwing you back to those gunslinging days. However, he has a knack for giving minute details which threw me out of the story -obviously showing he had done the research, while I would have believed anything he wrote down. I confess I still didn't know the names of the James-Younger gang's members by the end, and I didn't particularly care -some background characters received too much time.
A great read if you want to find out what the Wild West was all about, as well as interesting character profiles of Jesse James, Robert Ford, and some other figures in their lives.
(Now time to see if the movie's decent =p) ( )

I absolutely loved this novel; it's probably one of the best things I've read in the past few years. Hansen's prose is beautiful, and he manages to take a small slice of history and peel back the layers without being unfaithful to his sources. It's a sad, pretty book that I bet will haunt me for a while. ( )

Jesse James, the notorious bank robber and gang leader, takes on some new recruits to his gang -- two brothers named Charlie and Robert Ford. Little does he know that Bob Ford will ultimately murder him in cold blood.

I honestly don't know what to make of this book. The movie based on it was recommended to me by a friend some time ago and then by happenstance, I saw the book in my library. I figured I'd start with the book before the movie because the book is usually better, right? Well, I'm not sure in this case because I don't intend on watching the movie after reading this.

I should preface this review by saying that I'm not really much of a fan of the western genre, but there have been some exceptions to that. This particular book reads mostly like a nonfiction narrative with some dialogue and a few bits of imagined details thrown in here and there. There were definitely tidbits that I found particularly interesting, such as the stories of what happened to Jesse James's descendants, but as always with historical fiction, I wasn't sure just how true these factoids actually were. At any rate, these areas of the book were the most compelling to me.

As for the purportedly "imaginative telling" parts, I wasn't really that interested. These parts were not really that vivid or riveting. Jesse seemed like a horrible individual who had no concerns beyond his own well-being, so it was hard to feel any sympathy toward him whatsoever. Robert Ford's motivations in killing him were never made clear, and it seemed we got a lot more of the Jesse-worshipping Bob than anything else. However, it was interesting to see the reactions of the Ford brothers in the years after Jesse's death and how that act came to define them.

But altogether, I found it difficult to focus on this book. It seemed to go on for much too long about nothing. I feel like I would have preferred a shorter factual account instead. ( )