Very entertaining - close to 5 stars. The dialogue is great, at times reminiscent of Beckett. The author was, of course, restricted by the actual events in Deadwood, so I wished that some relationships could persist, but I guess that's the point. As Agnes Lake says, Things don't care how they happen, that's left for us, to care. ( )

Really great. ( )

Things you need to know about Deadwood: most of the characters are real. Some of the events are real. Pete Dexter is funny AF in Deadwood, but take caution because there are just as many of disturbing scenes to match. Taking place in mid 1870s, readers plop themselves down in the middle of the Dakotas during the Gold Rush era. Violence and prostitution rule the plot. This should not be a surprise as Wild Bill Hickok, Charley Utter, Calamity Jane, China Doll, and Bill's wife, Agnes, all get a chapter in Deadwood. Confessional: I didn't see much of a point to Deadwood. I never connected with any of the characters and I got weary of all the gunslinging. ( )

I loved this tale of Wild Bill Hickok and Colorado Charlie and Calamity Jane Cannary. I'm sure the author embroidered his story very much along with the basics of history. But that's just fine, because it makes for some very enjoyable and entertaining reading.
Colorado Charlie decided to accompany Wild Bill Hickok to Deadwood, South Dakota, just to take a road trip, more or less, in covered wagons. Charlie's brother-in-law came along, with Charlie's wife Matilda making Charlie promise to take care of him. They ended up staying in Deadwood, with all kinds of things going wrong, and not much going right, for any of them. Pink gin, bad local whiskey, whorehouses, gunfights, smallpox, gonorrhea, rape, wife beating, you name it, Deadwood's got it, and Dexter knows how to make you finish the book feeling sad to say goodbye to these hoary characters that he let you get close to. ( )

Had no idea the TV show was based on this until I listened to Backlisted. A rich, grimy stew of a book that makes you feel the gritty, sordid daily life of the West through several linked lives. A novel that's incidentally a Western. Maybe not the Great American Novel but will do until something better comes along. ( )