The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

By: Ron Hansen

Narrated by: Sam Freed

Jesse James was a fabled outlaw, a charismatic, spiritual, larger-than-life bad man whose bloody exploits captured the imagination and admiration of a nation hungry for antiheroes. Robert Ford was a young upstart torn between dedicated worship and murderous jealousy, the "dirty little coward" who coveted Jesse's legend. The powerful, strange, and unforgettable story of their interweaving paths - and twin destinies that would collide in a rain of blood and betrayal - is a story of America in all her rough, conflicted glory and the myths that made her.©1983 Ron Hansen (P)2006, 2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Vivid and sustained." ( New York Times Book Review)
"Retelling the familiar stories, making them fresh, finding in them an unresolvable mystery and tragedy about fame and ambition in America, this book is a wonderful achievement." ( San Francisco Chronicle)

Jesse and Bob

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford is by far my favorite book and film.

loved the movie, loved the book

rally the only words that need to be said are the words in my tital

A good read, but could have been more . . .

I saw the movie long before I read the book, and unlike many, I found the film version to be hypnotically compelling. The music, the cinematography, the performances . . . I think it was art. That said, it has a flaw at it's core, which is that it maintains too much distance between the characters and the viewer. Particularly in the middle bits, where some of the events felt disjointed and made the narrative feel like it was pieced together with a lot left on the cutting room floor.

Upon listening to this book, I see that the film was likely not edited in parts into vague incoherence at all. Narratively, I have the same complaint about the book, which is that the scenes involving Wood Hite, Dick Liddil, the Fords and the nature of Wood's conflict with Liddil just ring . . . incomplete, if not hollow.

In some ways, the narrative intent and what Hansen's trying to do with Jesse himself make this problem difficult. Scenes not involving Jesse lack gravitas. Like everyone else in the book, Jesse is not a completely drawn character; rather, we get glimpses into who he is and what he *might* intend with his actions. And this is problematic because we simply don't get enough scenes with which to frame whatever it is we're to think of him, or Robert Ford, or anyone else.

There's a bigger story to be told about Ed Miller, his fate and Jesse's choices about him, for instance. Normally, I tend to believe that most books, even really good ones, would benefit from an aggressive editor. Very few books merit epic treatment. However, this is a rare case where I think a good third of a book was left either in Hansen's head or somewhere at the mercy of an overly aggressive editor.

All that said, I prefer a quiet narrative style, especially with subjects like old West celebrities (that's what we're talking about when we discuss Jesse James), and Ron Hansen delivers that. In fact, I think he's a brilliant writer. He is drawn to unusual details that really place the reader in a scene, and he hits on certain minor actions that convey a lot more than entire paragraphs from lesser authors might.

But it's too short. The topic, and his writing talent, deserve more. As it is, it's a loosely connected series of vignettes about Ford and James -- which still gives us a beautiful book in many ways, and I recommend it. But when I think of lovely prose in the service of a human, historical tale, I can't help but think Hansen has better in him -- I think this could've been a book equal to authors like Mary Doria Russell or Marilynne Robinson.

In the end, I enjoyed it very much -- I think I just wish there were more of it to enjoy. If it were developed to the level it could've been, I wager I'd have it at 4.5 stars. As it is, it sits at 3.5 for me, so round up.

Wonderful

A terrific performance of one of the best books on the old west. Sam Freed brings the story to life.

There is some breathtaking writing....

"The sky was blue and with only gray wisps of clouds overhead, like scriptures of chalk erased from a slate..."

There are hundreds of lines like this.

Listening to this, there is a line or phrase every other minute executed with common words that just fill the space with beauty. Hansen is a master writer. His prose is earthy, gritty, poetry. .

The plain narration lets the words stand on their own. Any over-dramatization would have detracted from the beautiful writing. So the narrator had the difficult job of delivering this work with calm attention and without embellishment.

Amazing book and narrator!

I loved the book and Sam freed has a perfect voice for the it! I’d be surprised if you didn’t enjoy the read!

One of the greatest books ever!!!!!

If you have never seen the movie staring Brad Pitt based from this book, and title the same as the book, you are missing one of the greatest movies EVER made. The movie is beyond grossly underrated.

Great Audiobook

this book is better than the movie which I thought. was good. This is one of the best books about Jesse James

Great

great read. kept my attention and read in one day!! I recommend very very highly!

Substantially abridged.

Like the movie "minor" details and portions of the story are left out to make the James boys and their inbred family look better and the Fords look worse. The audiobook and movie - I bought both on Amazon - are OK but pretty weak compared to the unabridged book. Which I also bought on Amazon.