Sandpapers: The Lives and Letters of Eugene Manlove Rhodes and Charles Fletcher Lummis

Rating:
Summary: An Intriguing Account of a Western Writer and His Editor
Review: Eugene Manlove Rhodes spent the better part of his life in turn of the century untamed New Mexico as a horseman and cowman, and in his late life wrote western novels and short stories about his unique and exciting escapades. Most of his novels deal with real characters from the real Wild West, and the stories offer those of us interested in it a splendidly honest account of the "good men and true...humorous and happy and care-free and polite...But when it came to putting something over on them or their friends...these men were hard, and stern, tireless, loyal and grim, courageous and resourceful." Gene Rhodes knew men whose lives changed the Wild West and New Mexico, men like Pat Garrett, Senator Albert Fall, and Oliver Lee. He understood the wild land and the people who settled there but never tamed it. In this biography, author Frank M. Clark offers readers the letters that passed between Rhodes and his long-time friend, editor and publisher Charles Fletcher Lummis. Both were unusually gifted men, articulate, generous-spirited, and loyal; both knew the West and understood it in all its paradoxes and complexities. Author Clark brings Rhodes and Lummis to life in an intriguing way that makes for great reading for lovers of the West. Clark has the gift most biographers hope for: the ability to paint a generous yet honest view of his subjects. This biography is a must for every fan of the real Wild West and the true Western genre.