Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Is Little Big Man the greatest western novel/story ever?



Written by Thomas Berger,”Little Big Man,” is believed by many critics to be the greatest of all western novels. The protagonist and also the narrator, the 111-year old Jack Crabb, tells his life story to Ralph Fielding Snell, who decides that Crabb “was either the most neglected hero in the history of this country or a liar of insane proportions.”

Having been kidnapped by Indians as a boy and spending his entire life moving back and forth between the two cultures, Jack meets nearly every famous character of the Old West, from Wyatt Earp to Wild Bill Hickok (whose murder in Deadwood Jack witnesses) to Sitting Bull and Custer. In the end, Jack becomes the only survivor of the battle of the “Little Big Horn.”

True or not, this is a wonderful western story – a must read.

3 comments:

Seriously Though said...

is it true????? we have indian stories in Ohio that are fascinating, like the white indian named Blue Jacket. He was one nasty scalping indian.

Oscar Case said...

I think it was one of the funniest ones.

Neil A. Waring said...

Not sure if it is true or not that is what makes it great-sounds like the old boy was a bit of a tall tailer.

They did make a funny movie from it but like most the book is better.