Deadwood

A great, great novel. It's one of those books that both fully utilizes and transcends its genre. I'd put it up there w/Little Big Man, by Tom Berger. Accessible, darkly funny, intense, insightful, and wise. It's one of the overlooked Great American Novels.

An aging William "Wild Bill" Cody rode into Deadwood (in the Black Hills) in 1876 with his longtime friend Charley Utter. And it was in Deadwood that he was murdered on August 2, 1876. While Wild Bill dies, the people and situations in Deadwood revolve around him as a man and the "legend." And it is the very essence of Wild Bill's personality that runs through the book even though a great deal of the story centers around Charley Utter. Dexter divides Deadwood into four parts. The first is Bill Cody, next is China Doll (a beautiful Chinese woman), then Bill's wife Agnes Lake, and finally Calamity Jane. Deadwood is not your typical western. And there are serious and humorous moments. The humanness of Wild Bill in the bushes relieving himself (which was difficult given his prostrate problems) when young Malcolm Nash accidentally shot Wild Bill's horse in the head is both fear provoking and funny. A somber and touching moment was Wild Bill's last letter to his wife Agnes. The harshness of a prostitute's death and trip to the "death house" is chilling. And then there is Agnes' trip to Deadwood following her husband's death. All these situations and so much more make up the grand book that is Deadwood. I've enjoyed so many of Pete Dexter's books. But Deadwood is my favorite. To pigeon hole it as a western might keep people from reading it and that would be sad. Western aficionados will enjoy it but readers of good literature will love it. Dexter has the ability to tell a story in a way that simply commands your attention. Dexter's use of language and his sense of time and place are brilliant. The characters are real, complex people with all the strengths and weaknesses of human beings everywhere.

I read this book after becoming interested in Deadwood via HBO's series of that name. Since Deadwood is a real place, and since both the book and the television series are based on the real place, many of the characters are common to both. They do not, however, have much more in common besides their names and some shared historic events. Pete Dexter is a fine writer, and in Deadwood he has written a particularly fine novel. Much of the novel centers on the relationship between Wild Bill and his friend Charlie Utter. Other characters whose stories are explored include Charlie's friend, the soft-brained, Bottle Fiend, Wild Bill's widow Agnes Lake, Sheriff Seth Bullock and his partner Sol Star, a beautiful and tragic Chinese singer and prostitute named China Doll, and the always surprising Calamity Jane. Well worth reading, whether or not you like Deadwood, the TV series.

... How come the Wild West is so ...calm in this novel, you ask? Simple. Dexter chooses Charlie Utter as the central character, Bill Hickok's stoic, aloof partner, and it is he and his restrained wit that serves as backbone to this wonderful novel. The book is split into four parts: Bill, The China Doll (a beautiful Chinese ..), Agnes (Lake, Bills wife), and Jane (Calamity). Bill is gone by the end of his section, which surprised me because I thought this book was about Wild Bill. It is and it isnt. He isnt physically around after the first part, but his legend is everywhere, and it runs through the book. Ive read Paris Trout and Brotherly Love from Pete Dexter before, and enjoyed this one the most, for it is the funniest. Sometimes its ha-ha funny; other times its more reflective. Its a fine book, one that makes me wish Dexter will go back to novel writing soon.

If you're a fan of Pete Dexter you've no doubt read everything the man has written. However, if you are unfamiliar with this superb writer and in dire need of something with more substance than your average N.Y Times bestseller list fare, please jump in. Regardless of whether you're a "western" aficinado or not this is a stunning work. Mr. Dexter's abilities with language and character place him in the highest echelon of current authors. If someone (Mr. D.?) could lovingly transcribe this into a multi-part television movie a la "Lonesome Dove" I could die happy.