J. Lee Butts

The author writes short biographies of several famous/infamous Texas women mostly from the 1800's. Many of the ladies tried to make the best of their plight in the harsh climate and society of Civil War era Texas. Some married multiple times, not always divorcing the previous husband, and at times it was because they helped previous husbands into a premature death. When money was scarce they were not above a bit of cattle rustling, horse thievery, bank robbing, and street walking. The author show more includes an interesting history of the Chicken Ranch and the politicians and Texas Rangers who helped to keep it open. We are introduced to the likes of Belle Starr, Etta Place, Bonnie Parker, and oddly out-of-place in this book, Janis Joplin. Some of the stories are intriguing enough that I would like to read more in-depth coverage of the women. For the most part I enjoyed the book quite a bit as the author has a folksy tone that makes one feel like you're sitting on the front porch in a rocker with a good story-teller but his idioms began to weigh heavily on me after awhile. show less

Like "Little Big Man" where an old guy retells the story of his life. The only problem is this story is like a 50's TV show, long on action and short on character development.