The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America
by Larry McMurtry
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Description
In this dual biography, McMurtry explores the lives, the legends, and above all the truth about two larger-than-life American figures. With his Wild West show, Buffalo Bill Cody helped invent the image of the West that still exists today--cowboys and Indians, rodeo, rough rides, sheriffs and outlaws, trick shooting, Stetsons, and buck-skin. His most celebrated protégée, the short, slight Annie Oakley--born Phoebe Ann Moses in Ohio--spent sixteen years with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, where show more she entertained Queen Victoria and Kaiser Wilhelm II, among others. Beloved by all who knew her, Oakley became a legend in her own right, and after her death achieved a new lease of fame in the musical Annie, Get Your Gun. They were cultural icons, setting the path for all that followed.--From publisher description. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Larry McMurtry is one of my favorite authors and I enjoy his non-fiction as much as his fiction works. This was one of his later books that I finally got around to reading. While it was a quick read, this one didn't grab me the way his other works have done. There were interesting moments about these two early superstars in American entertainment, but overall I just didn't find the story all that interesting. But for someone who has read most of McMurtry's works, I'm glad I finished it.
I couldn't put this down, despite the fact that McMurtry bounces all over the place.
Not a sequential biography, but a thematic treatment of why Cody and Oakley were the first superstars. Excellent treatment of national and international zeitgeist and technology. "New Yorker" style writing; more like a collection of extended and related essays.
An interesting look at the celebrity that was Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. Buffalo Bill gets the lion's share of the book's modest 227 pages (not including appendices). The problem I have is with McMurty's writing. Inasmuch as he is a Pulitzer Prize winner I expected a bit more. His narrative is not linear either chronologically or thematicaly. It rambles without a clear direction toward the central premise of explaining what made these two people the first superstars in America. He repeats the same information, in some cases three and four times, throughout the book without adding any additional insight or information on the fact or facts being repeated . While not an unpleasant read, it is definately not one that I would rush out to show more add to my library. show less
Breezy account of the origins of American celebrity. Apparently dime novels were the "People" magazine of their day.
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96+ Works 43,335 Members
Larry McMurtry, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, among other awards, is the author of twenty-four novels, two collections of essays, two memoirs, more than thirty screenplays, & an anthology of modern Western fiction. He lives in Archer City, Texas. (Publisher Provided) Novelist Larry McMurtry was born June 3, 1936 in Wichita Falls, show more Texas. He received a B.A. from North Texas State University in 1958, an M.A. from Rice University in 1960, and attended Stanford University. He married Josephine Ballard in 1959, divorced in 1966, and had one son, folksinger James McMurtry. Until the age of 22, McMurtry worked on his father's cattle ranch. When he was 25, he published his first novel, "Horseman, Pass By" (1961), which was turned into the Academy Award-winning movie Hud in 1962. "The Last Picture Show" (1966) was made into a screenplay with Peter Bogdanovich, and the 1971 movie was nominated for eight Oscars, including one for best screenplay adaptation. "Terms of Endearment" (1975) received little attention until the movie version won five Oscars, including Best Picture, in 1983. McMurtry's novel "Lonesome Dove" (1985) won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and the Spur Award and was followed by two popular TV miniseries. The other titles in the Lonesome Dove Series are "Streets of Laredo" (1993), "Dead Man's Walk" (1995), and "Comanche Moon" (1997). The other books in his Last Picture Show Trilogy are "Texasville" (1987) and "Duane's Depressed" (1999). McMurtry suffered a heart attack in 1991 and had quadruple-bypass surgery. Following that, he suffered from severe depression and it was during this time he wrote "Streets of Laredo," a dark sequel to "Lonesome Dove." His companion Diana Ossana, helping to pull him out of his depression, collaborated with him on "Pretty Boy Floyd" (1994) and "Zeke and Ned" (1997). He co-won the Best Screenplay Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Brokeback Mountain in 2006. He made The New York Times Best Seller List with his title's Custer and The Last Kind Words Saloon. McMurtry is considered one of the country's leading antiquarian book dealers. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Buffalo Bill Cody; Annie Oakley
- Important places
- USA
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Statistics
- Members
- 255
- Popularity
- 127,035
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.39)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 6
