Publishers Weekly
01/07/2019
Clavin (Dodge City) portrays the legendary James “Wild Bill” Hickok as a sometimes trigger-happy gunman who became a 19th-century celebrity, in this rollicking but vaguely sourced biography. Hickok, born in 1837 Illinois, landed his first job in law enforcement at 20 as the town constable for Monticello, Kans. While working for a stagecoach company in Nebraska, he killed for the first time, defending his boss in a violent business dispute. Hickok served the Union during the Civil War as a scout and spy, and afterwards he shot and killed Davis Tutt, an acquaintance and romantic rival, in an argument about gambling debts; he was acquitted of murder, but gained a wide reputation as a fast draw. Press accounts turned him into a nationally known figure and made him a target for those seeking to prove their gunslinging skills. Hickok served as a marshal in Kansas, where he burnished his reputation as a gunfighter, although his habit of reflexive firing killed his own deputy, Mike Williams. Ultimately, Hickok was murdered, shot in the back of the head by someone he had not considered a threat. The absence of detailed source citations and Clavin’s acknowledgment that many writings about Hickok are embellished or unverifiable suggest that this is less a sober work of history than an entertaining tale of the man and the legend. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
"Clavin, a wily veteran of the writing trade, tacks up the truth like wanted posters in every chapter, while simultaneously savoring a few of the more fanciful falsehoods along the way, a neat trick in which he displays some ambidexterity of his own." —New York Times Book Review
"A vigorous yarn....Clavin writes fluently and often entertainingly of a man shrouded in legend while being all too human." —Kirkus Reviews
"Well written, full of vivid characters, and detailed. Fans of the Old West and the HBO show Deadwood will appreciate the wild ride." —Booklist
"Rollicking...an entertaining tale of the man and the legend." —Publishers Weekly
"Fascinating...a page-turner that may keep the reader up late at night." —The Oklahoman
"A well-written and well-researched tale of a most interesting American frontiersmen, lawman and shootist. Those interested in the true story of the life and times of Wild Bill Hickok will enjoy this book.” —Washington Times
"Wild Bill will appeal to readers with a fascination for American history, particularly those with an interest in post-Civil War westward expansion. But to a wider audience that has grown up with a romanticized and possibly sanitized version of this slice of America’s story, Clavin’s book will offer a well-researched, entertaining, and more realistic version of America’s past."—The Missourian
"Mr. Clavin’s fast-paced biography does a good job of laying out the facts, but ultimately lets the reader decide...We shouldn't like [Wild Bill], much less respect him, but somehow, despite it all, in some deep part of us we do." —East Hampton Star
"Tom Clavin...gives a nod to every gunslinger and scout of Hickok’s time, and if that’s not catnip to Western fans, nothing is. This book sweeps cross-country, around Indian villages and through decades as it busts myths and sets records straight, pulling readers into cowtowns and across prairies and putting mistruths to rest. That allows this to be more than strictly a history book: Clavin can also make this tale seem as comfortable as a Saturday afternoon sofa-and-blanket-session with an old black-and-white western." —Times Record
Library Journal - Audio
★ 05/01/2019
As a legendary lawman, gambler, army scout, actor, and gunfighter, Wild Bill Hickok is as synonymous with the image of the Wild West as are Buffalo Bill Cody, George Armstrong Custer, Dodge City, and Deadwood. As the legend surrounding Hickok grew, so did the myths. Each legend, from his involvement in the first quick-draw duel on the frontier to his death while playing cards, is carefully explored against numerous confirmations and other fact-checking. Clavin (Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West) combines almost poetic turns of phrase with the numerous details of a serious academic. Johnny Heller's entertaining, articulate narration is simply amazing. VERDICT Highly recommended for anyone looking for adventure stories or tales of Wild West history. ["Fans of Dodge City and general readers will find this detail-laden volume appealing": Xpress Reviews 12/21/18 review of the St. Martin's hc.]—Scott R. DiMarco, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib.
FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile
Johnny Heller does a fine job narrating Clavin’s well-researched and entertaining biography of the famous Western lawman and scout Wild Bill Hickok. Sifting through the legends and folklore, Clavin presents the real Wild Bill, who was more than a dime-novel titan and every bit a larger-than-life character. An active participant in the “Bleeding Kansas” troubles, he served as a scout for the North in Kansas and Missouri during the Civil War before his postwar exploits. Heller has a clear voice and a somewhat staccato delivery that is a good match to the text. Easy to understand, he ensures that Western aficionados will enjoy listening to the life of Wild Bill. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2018-10-28
A vigorous yarn concerning the man who, by Clavin's (Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West, 2017, etc.) account, set the template for the Wild West gunslinger.
There's a lot we don't know about Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1876), not least why a man born James Butler Hickok called himself Bill. The "wild" part of the moniker probably dates to the Civil War, when Unionist saloon patrons threatened to harm their secessionist-favoring bartender. "Though far from sharing the man's views," writes the author, "Bill believed in fair fights," and he backed the crowd down. As Clavin notes, just what Bill did during the war remains a matter of some history, but he may have served the Union while wearing a gray coat, working as a spy. Whatever the case, he was on the western frontier in time to stare down William Quantrill's guerrillas, turn up at the battle called the "Gettysburg of the West," and, soon after, to share friendships with Buffalo Bill Cody and George Armstrong Custer—and perhaps even with Mrs. Custer, who called him "a delight to look upon." Mixed up with all that was the gunfighter business: Hickok was fast enough and accurate enough to deter a whole passel of bad guys, gaining notoriety when they didn't back off, as when he had to square off with a sometime acquaintance who argued with him over a small debt and didn't live to collect it. Clavin writes fluently and often entertainingly of a man shrouded in legend while being all too human. For example, Hickok may not have recognized the man who gunned him down in Deadwood, South Dakota, because even in his 30s, his eyes were going bad. The author also ably picks apart what is likely or actual from what is invented, including a whole tangle of tales involving a certain Calamity Jane and penny-dreadful stories that were circulating about him even while Hickok was still alive.
Good history accessibly and ably told.
