The Colonel and Little Missie, Larry McMurtry
The Colonel and Little Missie, Larry McMurtry
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The Colonel and Little Missie
Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America

Author: Larry McMurtry

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Unabridged: 7 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/01/2005


Synopsis

From the early 1800s to the end of his life in 1917, Buffalo Bill Cody was as famous as anyone could be. Annie Oakley was his most celebrated protegee, the "slip of a girl" from Ohio who could (and did) outshoot anybody to become the most celebrated star
of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

In this sweeping dual biography, Larry 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 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. The short, slight Annie Oakley-born Phoebe Ann Moses -spent sixteen years with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, where she entertained Queen Victoria, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, among others. Beloved by all who knew her, including Hunkpapa leader, Sitting Bull, Oakley became a legend in her own right and after her death, achieved a new lease of fame in Irving Berlin's musical Annie, Get Your Gun.

To each other, they were always "Missie" and "Colonel" To the rest of the world, they were cultural icons, setting the path for all that followed. Larry McMurtry-a writer who understands the West better than any other-recreates their astonishing careers and curious friendship in a fascinating history that reads like the very best of his fiction.

About Larry McMurtry

Larry McMurtry is the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove. His other works include two collections of essays, three memoirs, and more than thirty screenplays, including the coauthorship of Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award. He lives in Archer City, Texas.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Little on January 12, 2021

Very nice history book. Well written so that it reads easy and quickly. Recommended......more

Goodreads review by Jeffrey on May 23, 2023

The people who rate this Larry McMurtry book as three-star or lower miss out on what McMurtry set out to accomplish - determining what makes a superstar. In fact, it's subtitled "Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America," which gives us a great clue to why it comes a......more

Goodreads review by Jan C on May 14, 2018

This was probably 2 1/2+, and, because it was McMurtry he got the benefit of the doubt. Relatively interesting story of the rise of Buffalo Bill Cody, the first superstar, and his biggest star, Annie Oakley. Not really in depth and McMurtry acknowledges the lack of information on certain aspects of t......more

Goodreads review by John on May 19, 2020

Larry McMurtry won a Pulitzer Prize for Lonesome Dove, and has written quite a few realistic novels, many of them about Texas. In this book he is writing about history, especially as it pertains to Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley. The author has apparently done his research. The resulting book is......more

Goodreads review by Catherine on January 16, 2021

Lots of legends and theories about how much is true, in the lives of Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917) and Annie Oakley (1860-1926) and the popularity and culture of Wild West shows throughout the world. Interesting but not as riveting as McMurtry’s fiction.......more