The Return of Little Big Man

I remember quite fondly the movie "Little Big Man" with Dustin Hoffman, so when I discovered that there were further adventures of Jack Crabb I purchased this sequel. It reveals more tales of Jack's adventures with some of the Old West's most colorful characters such as Wild Bill Hickock, Buffalo Bill Cody, Chief Sitting Bull, Annie Oakley, etc.. It's a book that is never dull, and the characters, both real and invented, mesh seamlessly in the narrative. It's not the West that you might remember from the old cowboy shows on television, but it's certainly a more vibrant place, and definitely more true to life. The book only takes us up to about 1893, so I sincerely hope that ol' Jack has more tales to tell, and that we'll see them in book form shortly.

Return of Little Big Man is not as good as Little Big Man, but since Little Big Man easily ranks among the ten greatest American novels ever written, that is not strong criticism. RLBM is a bit too long - it drags somewhat between the point at which Jack Crabb joins Buffalo Bill and the point at which he witnesses Sitting Bull's death. But otherwise it is superior in every way. There is a change of focus here. Unlike LBM, RLBM is less a revisionist history of the Old West and has changed its focus to the encroaching Twentieth Century. Best of all, it introduces a romantic element in the form of Amanda Teasdale, who will surely prove a match for Jack Crabb. The author promises additional installments of Crabb's life. I look forward to them. I wish he'd produce a nonfiction companion volume (or footnotes a la Flashman) so the reader could determine what is fact and what is fancy.

In Twain's footstepsCritics tend to gush over Thomas Berger. He's been called the new Mark Twain. One of the most important writers of this century. Read "The Return of Little Big Man." You'll understand why. In his latest work, the author of 20 novels returns to the story of Little Big Man (a.k.a. Jack Crabb). We first met Crabb in 1964 in the original "Little Big Man." Thirty-five years later, Berger reprises the character in an effort that brings honor to the tattered reputation of sequels. Again, Crabb, who's well past his 100th year, is reminiscing about his life in the Old West. And an adventurous life it is. In many respects, he is the Forrest Gump of his time. Despite being a lowly bartender, his path continually crosses the biggest names in the West: Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickock, Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Sitting Bull and, for good measure, the Pope and the Queen of England. The result is a personalized, everyman's perspective of the era's legends. The plot is delivered in a series of encounters with such notables. But where Berger truly shines is in Crabb's observations on life. He speaks in the rich, unlettered voice of another time - hence the Twain comparisons. Yet he manages to be insightful, educational and disarmingly funny all at once. Crabb bounds about the West, busting myths, telling tall tales and offering eccentric commentary on the period. This is fiction at its best. Don't let the Western theme put you off. Berger ably meshes biography with comedy, love stories with history, without any one element pushing another away. Best of all, you'll get to see Berger, one of the great craftsmen of our time, at work.

Jack Crabb, did not, after all, die miserably in an old folks' home after describing the death of his father-figure, Old Lodge Skins, to a sissy interviewer. Crabb lived on to relate the story of the next fifteen or so years of his life. He had a lot still to get off his chest--or Berger did. He continues musing over the gulf of misunderstanding apparently inevitable whenever race meets race or man meets woman. But in addition, we get the chance to hear him out on other topics--Catholicism, the French, women's rights and Queen Victoria, to name a few. I was afraid this book would be a downhill ride, both because I enjoyed LITTLE BIG MAN so much, and because the fate of the Indians involved was a foregone, depressing conclusion. There are sad bits, notably the murder of Sitting Bull and his son. However, this book surprised me, and I turned heads in public a few times by laughing out loud while reading it. Berger leaves Crabb in as happy a state as one can imagine him. This relieved me of a years-old sadness for the old codger, for I liked him a lot, and like him more now.