Oklahoma Crude

This is probably the best, and certainly the most accurate, book ever written about the oil patch. It is set early in the 20th century during the oil boom in the Oklahoma "channel sands." Yet, this story could just as easily been set just about anywhere oil fever hit- and the Rockefellers got there claws into it. Firstly, this is a novel about the indomitable will of one woman who refuses to keep anyone and anything from keeping her from bringing in her wildcat well: not a nere-do-well father, not romance, not sexist oil men and bankers, not Rockfeller thugs. Yet, it is the secondary theme of what the oil patch was really like that steals the show. The technical details are all correct, as are the labor conditions and political climate (Rockefeller WAS the government.) Indeed the shere ruthlessness of the times is perfectly captured- you get one chance to do "business" with Standard Oil, after that your rights, and your life, weren't worth a plug nickel. The author, also wrote the excellent screenplay for the movie that starred George C. Scott and Jack Palance. Strangely that film is impossible to find these days. In fact, this excellent book didn't even go to paperback. It was written around the time of the great "oil crisis" of 1973. It is almost like someone doesn't want the true story of the American oil industry brought to light....