The Assassination of Jesse James by t..., Ron Hansen
The Assassination of Jesse James by t..., Ron Hansen
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Author: Ron Hansen

Narrator: Sam Freed

Abridged: 6 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 08/28/2007

Synopsis

“Recalls the literature of Americana by John Steinbeck, Erskine Caldwell, Willa Cather, and Hamlin Garland . . . Hansen has broadened our perception of the West in much the same way as the best historians . . . and proven himself one of our finest stylists of American historical fiction.” —Christian Science MonitorBestselling author Ron Hansen recreates the real West with his imaginative telling of the life of the most famous outlaw of them all, Jesse James, and of his death at the hands of the upstart Robert Ford.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.

About Ron Hansen

Ron Hansen is the bestselling author of the novel Atticus (a finalist for the National Book Award), Hitler's Niece, Mariette in Ecstasy, Desperadoes, and Isn't It Romantic?, as well as a collection of short stories, a collection of essays, and a book for children. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Ron Hansen lives in northern California, where he teaches at Santa Clara University.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ashley on August 17, 2012

I fell in love with this book on the first page, with the opening lines, “He was growing into middle age and was living then in a bungalow on Woodland Avenue. Green weeds split the porch steps, a wasp nest clung to an attic gable, a rope swing looped down from a dying elm tree and the ground below i......more

Goodreads review by Willspeare on November 21, 2008

What makes this book is the language. Though I am no authority, it has effectively captivated the language we would expect from the time. Hansen is definitely a researcher and it shows, but on top of that, the story seems removed from the contemporary. It breathes forward to us from another time, ev......more

Goodreads review by Joshua on July 03, 2017

Ron Hansen entitled this remarkable book "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" not because he agrees that Robert Ford was coward, indeed, Bob Ford spends much of the last third of the book attempting to prove that he was not a coward, instead, Hansen seems to be drawing our at......more

Goodreads review by Mary on June 29, 2019

It is hard to sort the heroes and villains, cowards and righteous. It is a well-written book though with some of the best turned phrases I have seen in a long time. The public's waxing and waning of admiration and hatred for James and Ford is not an uncommon event. We see it all the time these days......more

Goodreads review by Estelle on August 21, 2015

This is a very good story but, somehow, I find myself liking the movie better than the book. There were some great moments, every single time Jesse James & Bob Ford would interract I would hold my breath. Their love / hate relationship was truly fascinating. That said, I struggled a bit with the writi......more

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