The Bird in the Bush by Eugene Manlove Rhodes

I guess Adam had the best time anybody ever did, namin’ things. Ever notice what good names you find in a thin-settled country? That’s cause they don’t have no prominent citizens to call things after.

My first encounter with this well-regarded author. I found the language a bit baroque and long-winded in this tale leading me to never quite settle down into the narrative and experience the people and place. The language itself acted as a buffer between me and the world the author was creating.

Perhaps that is not always the case.

Beyond the Desert

“His face was a large red face, heavy, square, course-featured, stubbly. It now expressed no emotion. Unhurriedly, he took up a long thirty-forty from the sling below the stirrup leather, raised the sights high, and dropped two bullets before the trail of the advancing party.”

This tale from the highly regarded Eugene Manlove Rhodes is without a doubt well written, but I must confess that thus far I have not been bit by the appreciation bug for this author.

It has descriptive power and fine substance here and there but forward momentum was a bit lacking for this reader.

The fault may be mine.