Josey Wales: Two Westerns: Gone to Texas/The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales

I think the Outlaw Josey Wales is one of the best movies ever. So I read the book it is based on (Gone to Texas), and if anything it is even better than the movie. There are just enough differences to make it interesting, while enough alike to make you cheer! The second book, THe Vengence Trail of Josey Wales, was a little less readable, but good nevertheless. A bit more violent and bloody too. IF you like westerns, you will love this book. I highly recommend it!

Saw the film. Now I've read the book, Josey Wales has just got better... The non stop adventure of Josey Wales, an out law to society but a hero to anybody that reads this book. Well worth the money, and taking time out to read it.

To start off with, the author's real name is: Asa Earl Carter. Carter was known to be a racist. He was with George Wallace and left him when Wallace began to change his views. He wrote "Outlaw Josey Wales" (It's first title was: 'The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales,") and was printed by an obscure publisher in Alabama. He sent a copy to Clint Eastwood, hoping that he might be interested in securing the film rights. What happened was that producer Robert Daley got it instead and then one weekend, having nothing to read, he saw Carter's book and decided to read it. He read it in one sitting. Then Eastwood read it. They met Carter to negotiate the rights. Carter showed up to the meeting drunk.Despite Carter's myriad of character flaws, this can be certainly said: the man could write. "Outlaw Josey Wales" is one of the best westerns I've ever read. It's a fast moving tale, packed with action and incident. The movie follows the story quite faithfully (though the timeline is compressed) and Eastwood made at least my favorite of all of his westerns (yes, I think it's better than "Unforgiven).Back to the book. I can't speak for the politics of the book. Yes, if you're aren't a fan of big government, I suppose this book will speak to you. But if you've ever lost all that mattered to you, if you've been left with nothing, then this book will speak to you. That's where the book's genius truly lies. It struck a universal note, not just some political rambling. That's why I think Mr. Daley and Eastwood were so taken with it. When the book begins, Josey has nothing to live for and thus lives a life of vengeance; but as the book ends, he truly has something to live for, and he sees how hollow vengeance truly is.A great western. A great book.How the heck did Carter do it?

The end of the American Civil War has long been the point of beginning for several Western adventures, but GONE TO TEXAS (AKA OUTLAW JOSEY WALES) is one the reader will never forget. His wife and son murdered by the notorious Red Legs, Josey Wales sets out to seek his revenge by joining a force of Missouri rebels. When his band is forced to surrender, Josey holds back only to watch his entire clan executed. The only one left, Josey is now an outlaw, on the run and headed southwest. Joining him are an elderly Cherokee, a Navajo squaw whom Josey rescues from two rapists, a red bone coonhound, and eventually a family from Kansas who nearly lose it all to a band of Comancheros. Together they fight for each other's lives, whether it be with the Union forces on Josey's trail, or the Comanche that rule the land they now pass, all in the search for peace. GONE TO TEXAS is a story for all times.

I have read and owned copies of one or the other, but not in the same volume. I found this medium an excellent way to continue reading about the characters. Forrest Carter does a splendid job of blending history with fiction. His historical research is top notch. I highly recommend this novel for the student of history, as well as the casual western reader.