Buffalo Girls

September 30, 1991
Yearning for the excitement and good hunting of the pk Wild West, two mountain men and an old Indian scout dejectedly roam the prairie; an aging Calamity Jane composes brooding letters to her daughter; a madam closes her bordello to run a respectable hotel, symbolically ending the era. According to PW , ``McMurtry's genius with language always enchants, but this tale's charm is muffled by sadness.''

October 1, 1990
McMurtry, a prolific mythologizer/demythologizer of the Old West, here takes on Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary, 1852?-1903)--who confesses in a series of letters to being a drunken hell-raiser but never an outlaw--and sundry larger-than-life cohorts. The author's talent for characterizations and storytelling shines as he depicts gritty events and relationships in the life of fur trappers and Indians who, along with Calamity Jane, must resort to performing in Bill Cody's Wild West show in order to survive. They exploit and are exploited by their frontier lifestyle before being defeated by it in the end. A spellbinding saga with a surprise ending. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/90.-- Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.

Copyright 1990 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.