Rating: 
Summary: Exuberant Praise from USA TODAY
Review: "It's a remarkable book, restrained and gritty, droll and lyrical, about how the West is changing and about some things that don't change. It's a great portrait of men at work, more valuable and more fun to read than those better-living-through-better-management guides...THE COWBOY WAY can take its place next to books by Wallace Stegner and Norman Maclean, Ivan Doig and Mary Clearman Blew. It belongs with the best from the West." --USA TODAY
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful advance praise and reviews
Review: "McCumber's clear, fine writing conveys the push of season, the intensity and danger of ranch work where small mistakes can have savage physical consequences. With dry humor he lays out the interlocked complexities of the northern plains year--landform, weather, vehicle maintenance, humans, cows, water...There are hundreds, thousands of books about cowboys and their gear, the old west, cattlemen, and ranchers. But of the real and gritty ground-level work of the comtemporary ranch, there is only one and this is it." --E. Annie Proulx "David McCumber has written a splendid book that should permanantly blow the lid off nearly everyone's absurd preconception of how a cowboy actually spends his seasons. The book is full of fine detail, and one finishes it full of admiration, not only for the author, but for the men who work so brutally hard and skillfully, holding out against a world that is a hell of a lot less fascinating." --Jim Harrison "THE COWBOY WAY is the toughest, most realistic account of a ranch hand's work since Wallace Stegner's GENESIS." --Robert F. Jones "This is the actual deal, depicted vividly and accurately." --William Kittredge "David McCumber has written the finest (and funniest) book I've ever read on what it means to be a modern cowboy. There's a reason why cowboys are lean, and it's all here, lined out in admirably lanky, laconic prose." --Tim Cahill "I opened this book with a New York sneer. Yet as I read on I was seduced by a first-rate storyteller...The reader is left with a sense of awe for cowboys, either those who are part of legend or those who do important tasks with quiet pride and admirable skill." --Ken Auletta "David McCumber has written a good book on an old theme of our West--the greenhorn who wants to be a cowboy and learns how hard it is to actually become a good hand in a rough, often thankless, and increasingly endangered craft." --Larry McMurtry "Like any honest cowboy, McCumber forgoes highfalutin lyricism for a gritty, plain-talking record of ranching's real deal: the sweaty physical labor, the harrowing weather of the high plians along the northern Rockies, the fights and swearing and "ass-chewings" that come with the job. Mamas will definitely not want their babies to grow up to be cowboys if they read McCumber's story, but he does succeed at conveying the humble satisfactions as well as the ornery torments of the life." --OUTSIDE MAGAZINE "McCumber can be salty in one sentence, lyrical in the next, whimsical, stoic and, only occasionally, wistful. His book will creep up on readers, who will come away with admiration for McCumber and a strong, vibrant sense of the ranching life he has come to love." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ""It's a gritty, forthright, painstakingly seriou but often funny account...this is a book that needed to be written. Now it is one that needed to be read, especially by those who want to know, or those who mistakenly think they know, what ranching is all about." --AMERICAN COWBOY
Rating: 
Summary: Big Sky, Big Ranch...Slim Grazing
Review: "The Cowboy Way" is a worthwhile read for those folks interested in learning, in depth, about the realities of ranch life. McCumber provides excruciating detail of particular processes (e.g, baling hay) that give a solid sense of the exacting and monotonous nature of ranching. The problem is that he doesn't give the reader much reason to bond with him, his fellow ranch hands, the ranch owner, the livestock or the land itself. The reader leaves wanting more depth about the characters and more introspection from McCumber himself. The book also suffers from a lack of editing that places diary entries with little rhyme or reason, and little relevance to other text. Also, there are no photos to give a sense of the ranch or the characters. With that said, it's worth the read. You just leave hungrier for more.
Rating: 
Summary: David McCumber tells it how it is.
Review: David McCumber has provided an highly informative insider's look to Montana ranching in "The Cowboy Way: The Seasons of a Montana Ranch." After I graduated from college in North Carolina, I dropped everything to move to the same area Mr. McCumber moved to. He has done an extraordinary job on gathering the history of Montana and its people. I was amazed to read about the Wertheimers', Rogers', and Mikelsons', my neighbors in Utica. My one complaint would be that he used terms refering to ranching and cattle that many people would not be familiar with if they have never lived around such an operation. Regardless, I would reccommend this book to anyone who longs to go back to a way of life where everyone knows their neighbor, and you spend your days surviving the elements, not your cubical.
Rating:
Summary: David McCumber tells it how it is.
Review: David McCumber has provided an highly informative insider's look to Montana ranching in "The Cowboy Way: The Seasons of a Montana Ranch." After I graduated from college in North Carolina, I dropped everything to move to the same area Mr. McCumber moved to. He has done an extraordinary job on gathering the history of Montana and its people. I was amazed to read about the Wertheimers', Rogers', and Mikelsons', my neighbors in Utica. My one complaint would be that he used terms refering to ranching and cattle that many people would not be familiar with if they have never lived around such an operation. Regardless, I would reccommend this book to anyone who longs to go back to a way of life where everyone knows their neighbor, and you spend your days surviving the elements, not your cubical.
Rating:
Summary: Montana and Cowboying At Its Best!
Review: David McCumber's, The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch, is nothing short of brilliant. The inconceivably hard life of the modern day cowboy is described with gripping passion and confident ease. Having spent time in Montana made the memoir even more engaging for me. For those who dream of the cowboy life or simply the magic of the Rocky Mountain west, this wonderful account will do little to suppress the inherent desire to act on those dreams.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fun and Educational Read!
Review: Get a first-hand lesson on what it's like to be a modern cowboy, plus some good history on Montana and its ranching business. The author's descriptions of the jobs and work it takes to run a large range are both educational and interesting and will give you a whole new perspective on what it's like to be a "real" cowboy. Great bedtime reading, and if you've ever wanted to spend some time in Montana, you'll like what you read here.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun and Educational Read!
Review: Get a first-hand lesson on what it's like to be a modern cowboy, plus some good history on Montana and its ranching business. The author's descriptions of the jobs and work it takes to run a large range are both educational and interesting and will give you a whole new perspective on what it's like to be a "real" cowboy. Great bedtime reading, and if you've ever wanted to spend some time in Montana, you'll like what you read here.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic account on the real cowboy of today.
Review: I believe David McCumber has written a true account of what it is to be a true working cowboy on today's ranches in the United States. This is not a story about the rodeo cowboys and a bunch of wantabe's. This is a real life account about the hardships of the day to day life of today's hard working cowboy. If you have ever been fascinated about the west and the mystic of the real cowboy legends this is the book to read. It will give you the true facts about cowboying on today's ranches.
Rating:
Summary: A book that makes you feel like you are there on the ranch..
Review: I bought this book because I am very interested in Montana and ranching. This book showed to me that certainly ranching is not a beautiful life. The auther was great at the details and his feelings about the work he does, the way he feels, and the appreciation about the beauty of the lands. I would recommend this book to you if you like cowboy stories, ranching, or Montana. It seems like us folks from Hawaii sure enjoy it!
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