What are the connections between cattle branding and Christian salvation, between livestock castration and square dancing, between cattle rustling and the making of spurs and horsehair bridles in prison, between children's coloring books and cowboy poetry as it is practiced today? The Cowboy uses literary, historical, folkloric, and pop and cultural sources to document ways in which cowboys address religion, gender, economics, and literature. Arguing that cowboys are defined by the work they do, Allmendinger sets out in ...
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What are the connections between cattle branding and Christian salvation, between livestock castration and square dancing, between cattle rustling and the making of spurs and horsehair bridles in prison, between children's coloring books and cowboy poetry as it is practiced today? The Cowboy uses literary, historical, folkloric, and pop and cultural sources to document ways in which cowboys address religion, gender, economics, and literature. Arguing that cowboys are defined by the work they do, Allmendinger sets out in each chapter to investigate one form of labor (such as branding, castration, or rustling) in the cowboy's "work culture." He looks at early oral poems recited around campfires, on trail drives, at roundups, and at home in ranch bunkhouses, and at later poems, histories, and autobiographies written by cowboys about their work - most of which have never before received scholarly attention. Allmendinger shows how these texts address larger concerns than the work at hand - including art, morality, spirituality, and male sexuality. In addition to spotlighting little-known texts, art, and archival sources, The Cowboy examines the works of Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Willa Cather, Louis L'Amour, Larry McMurtry, and others. Unique among studies of the American cowboy, Allmendinger's study looks at what cowboys thought of themselves, and the ways in which they represented those thoughts in their own prose, poetry, and artifacts. Richly illustrated with photographs of cowboys at work and at play, many previously unpublished, The Cowboy will interest scholars of American literature and history, and American Studies, as well as those interested in Western history and culture,folklore, and gender studies.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Cloth over boards. 397 p. Contains: Unspecified. Bison Book S. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Cloth over boards. 397 p. Contains: Unspecified. Bison Book S. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
I bought this book because of it being recommended by J. Frank Dobie. It certainly did not disappoint! It is an excellent account of the hardships endured on long cattle drives from Texas in the last half of the 1800s.
Ron62
Jun 30, 2009
Time Machine to the Old West
If you only read one book about the American cowboy - read this classic. The true experience of driving thousands of head of cattle from south Texas to Montana told so vividly by a young cowboy that a willing reader can actually begin to feel what it was really like.
ChuckElchlepp
Aug 30, 2007
Doubtless one of the Finest Westerns Ever Wrote
I'm here to tell ya folks, this book, hands down, is an amazing journey for a reader willing to live for a heap of pages in the truest original Western way of life on the cattle trails 'tween Mexico and Canada. I mean this is a serious, no malarky or hollywood kind of read.
I immediately went looking for this book, in its original form from 1903 or as close as I could get a printing to that date before I even finished the book that I was reading where this book was mentioned on the back cover. I was reading "Dakota Cowboy", by Ike Blasingame. My goodness gracious, now that's another great, and mighty authentic western book if'n you're really lookin' for some good and REAL stuff to delve into and live for a while. Ike starts his book off by dedicating it to his wife, who, as he states, wrote while he talked.
But back to Log of a Cowboy. It isn't a "log" book like another fantastic journey book that I've read titled "Crossing Antarctica" by Jon Bowermaster and Will Steger, but more so a very well written story of the ride all these cowhands took. You're right there with them the whole time, and you'll find it real hard to set this book down once you get into it. so plan on settin' some time aside and kickin' back for a good read with this epic of a story from days far-too-long-since-past.
It also offers some occasional insight as to the decline of all things good for this truly wonderful country of ours, the U.S. of A. years down the road when they see parts of the west being infected with the disease of emigration of whites. I'm white, but I don't condone for a second what all the whiteys did back then to the indigenous people of this land - and eventually to the land itself. "Founded" by a lost idiot from England - Columbus. What a great way to start a nation. Don't get me wrong, I love the America I grew up in, but that's long gone now. God Help Us All.
So in short, buy this book from Alibris if there are any more available. I'll read my copy doubtless countless more times over the rest of my life. I couldn't recommend it more. It really is a great book. I thoroughly enjoy the ride ya take with these boys, and they're only "boys" in age. Just like Chris LeDoux sang: "It Ain't The Years, It's The Miles." That really applies to this book for sure. Especially for those of us who mainly have only rodeoed out on the ranges of cow outfits we've worked on and not in front of crowds of pilgrims. Thank God for Chris LeDoux though too.
