The Travels of Jamie McPheeters

This is one of the best books that I have ever read, I'm going to read the rest of books. There is hilarity, sadness, and alot of history. Loved it, couldn't put it down.

This is quite possibly the most enjoyable work of fiction since "Huck Finn." Reading it was a pure delight--it is very well written, the story is gripping, and I was simultaneously satisfied and sad when I finished the last page. I think of the best nonfiction as "brain candy." This novel is more, shall I say, "soul candy" or perhaps (without sounding smarmy, I hope) I can call it "heart candy."

As several others have noted, I also read this book as a teenager (actually pre-teen) when it was first released. It was my first experience with a book annotated with references to research concerning the period.It is every bit as well written as classics such as Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist, or Treasure Island. I really cannot imagine such a wonderful piece of literature being lost to other generations.

Some enterprising publisher of lapsed titles--perhaps Dalkey Archives or someplace similar--should publish a new edition posthaste. "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" is a walloping good read, full of excitement, humor, and vivid characters. In places it reads as if Mark Twain and Henry Fielding had put their heads together for a collaboration. Robert Lewis Taylor wrote several books about teenage boys coming of age on the frontier, but "Jaimie McPheeters" was the first and by far the best.

This is a touching, funny epic story of a boy's travels across the Wild West. It has remained on my personal list of favorite books since I first read it nearly 20 years ago. I promise I will buy the first fifty reissued copies to give as gifts.....men, women, young and old would love it. But don't take my word for it; it won a Pulitzer!