This acid western has it all, medicine men, psychedelic trips, piles and piles of violence and bodies, unsavory people, what might be a witch, barroom brawls, sinking schooners, and so much more. It’s a very American book about cycles of repeating violence, sensationalism, identity, and the shifting tide of history which just jumbles everything up and watches it resettle into the almost identical patterns it was in before. The writing is crisp and evocative, Wurlitzer never spends too much time in one place or one situation but you leave each scene with a strong visual sense of the time, place, and characters. It’s funny, especially if you’re a fan of westerns or have an understanding of western tropes and stereotypes. The lead character, Zebulon Shook, is despicable but heroic with his own sense of morality, a perfect anti-hero. The story is broken down into small sections which helps the story clip along and cover a lot of ground in very little time—and I do mean a lot of ground, from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico, to San Fran, to Oregon. This is a really great book, a fantastic read for anyone with even a remote soft spot for westerns or for the neo-westerns that have become popular (Dead Man, El Topo, etc), or for those who like a little casual psychedelia with their story-telling. Two huge thumbs up from me on this one. -

2nd read:
Still love it. Might read it again next year too. Great companion piece to the Monte Hellman film, "The Shooting." as well as Jarmusch's reinterpretation of the story in "Dead Man."