This novel follows the story of the Earp brothers and their women from their days in Dodge City to the more famous time in Tombstone. Wyatt's story is the main focus of the novel and specifically his meeting and developing relationship with Josephine Marcus with whom he spent the rest of his life.

His brothers Morgan, Virgil, Warren and James are all part of the story as are his enemies, Ike Clanton, Tom & Frank McLaury, William Brocius and Billy Clanton. Doc Holliday is also part of the Erp story but to a lesser extent then the movie versions lead us to believe.

One neat and informative addition to the novel were the excerpts from newspapers of the year in which the action was taking place in Tombstone giving the reader an overview of what was happening in Europe and England and other parts of the world while the Earps were policing Arizona in the 1880's.

An enjoyable read with many insights to life in Tombstone of that era. ( )

First edition as new

I recently discovered the works of Robert B Parker, and I believe I'm hooked...

Gunman's Rhapsody is a retelling of Wyatt Earp's time in Tombstone, and a good one at that. The author writes dialogue that sounds like real-life conversations, and his characters are interesting, flawed, though likable. This was my third western by this author, and I plan to read more from his plethora of published works. ( )

I loved Robert B. Parker's Cole & Hitch stories, particularly Appaloosa and Resolution, so in looking for a new Western fix I turned to Gunman's Rhapsody, Parker's take on the legend of Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Unfortunately, it's not that great.

It's not that I was expecting Appaloosa and feel aggrieved that I got something different. Quite the contrary: Gunman's Rhapsody is very similar in style, pace and content to the later Cole & Hitch stories. It's just not that good. Parker's writing style is to pare everything back to the bone, and when this works there is nothing better, nothing more enjoyable to read than one of his books. When it doesn't work, it really doesn't.

This book doesn't: the writing is sophomoric at times and there is a lack of killer dialogue (usually one of Parker's main selling points). The Wyatt Earp story is a good one (the Kurt Russell film Tombstone did it best) but, unfortunately, anything interesting in Gunman's Rhapsody comes from the legend itself and not Parker's telling of it. Here, there is a lot of build-up, but it lacks suspense, and there is a flurry of action at the end, but it happens too quickly to savour and leaves you feeling short-changed. The O.K. Corral fight itself lacks build-up (I didn't know it was happening until it was nearly over) or foreboding or any sense of theatre – which should be a criminal offence for a Western writer. And save for one piece of dialogue about a twenty-five-dollar watch, Wyatt's vengeance after the death of one of his brothers lacks any real burning rage. It is hard to keep track of the feuds – Curley Bill and Johnny Ringo, though crucial to the plot, are underdeveloped, as is the enigmatic Doc Holliday – and some of these feuds seem to bubble up out of nothing or nowhere. I think I would have been more lost if I didn't already know the legend.

Some of Parker's stuff is elevated pulp, artful pulp, but this is just pulp, I'm afraid. That's fine, but when pulp doesn't come out right, it just leaves you dissatisfied. Gunman's Rhapsody is quick and easy to read, and that is typical Parker, but if you want a Western from him, read the excellent Appaloosa instead and let Hollywood tell Wyatt Earp's story. ( )

Gunman’s Rhapsody is Robert B. Parker’s fictional take on the saga of the Earp brother’s stay in Tombstone, Arizona in the early 1880’s. I have read one excellent nonfictional account of the story (Jeff Guinn’s The Last Gunfight), which supports Parker’s depiction of the principal facts, even down to the location of the streets in Tombstone. In fact, Parker’s account was written ten years earlier (2001) than Guinn’s, which should attest to the volume of earlier literature on the subject.

Parker is at his best when creating the dialog of taciturn, macho men. And what better examples could he find in real life than Wyatt and Virgil Earp?. They may or may not have been as unloquacious as Parker limns them, but they were certainly as macho. In any event, in the hands of a master story teller, the Earp’s tale is gripping and rings true.

(JAF) ( )