Wild Bill, Tom Clavin
Wild Bill, Tom Clavin
16 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
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Wild Bill
The True Story of the American Frontier's First Gunfighter

Author: Tom Clavin

Narrator: Johnny Heller

Unabridged: 8 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/05/2019


Synopsis

“The first thing you will notice about this engaging and delightful biography is that [Narrator Johnny Heller] sounds like a character actor who moseyed off the set of an old-fashioned oater. His voice is a little scratchy, a little seasoned and perfectly suits this biography of larger-than-life Bill Hickok and his pals, from Calamity Jane to Buffalo Bill Cody and General Custer.” —The Berkshire Edge

This program includes a bonus interview with the author.

The definitive true story of Wild Bill, the first lawman of the Wild West, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dodge City.

In July 1865, "Wild Bill" Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in Springfield, MO—the first quick-draw duel on the frontier. Thus began the reputation that made him a marked man to every gunslinger in the Wild West.

James Butler Hickock was known across the frontier as a soldier, Union spy, scout, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, showman, and actor. He crossed paths with General Custer and Buffalo Bill Cody, as well as Ben Thompson and other young toughs gunning for the sheriff with the quickest draw west of the Mississippi.

Wild Bill also fell in love—multiple times—before marrying the true love of his life, Agnes Lake, the impresario of a traveling circus. He would be buried however, next to fabled frontierswoman Calamity Jane.

Even before his death, Wild Bill became a legend, with fiction sometimes supplanting fact in the stories that surfaced. Once, in a bar in Nebraska, he was confronted by four men, three of whom he killed in the ensuing gunfight. A famous Harper’s Magazine article credited Hickok with slaying 10 men that day; by the 1870s, his career-long kill count was up to 100.

The legend of Wild Bill has only grown since his death in 1876, when cowardly Jack McCall famously put a bullet through the back of his head during a card game. Bestselling author Tom Clavin has sifted through years of western lore to bring Hickock fully to life in this rip-roaring, spellbinding true story.

"[Narrator Johnny Heller] ensures that Western aficionados will enjoy listening to the life of Wild Bill" — AudioFile Magazine

About Tom Clavin

TOM CLAVIN is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has worked as a newspaper editor, magazine writer, TV and radio commentator, and a reporter for The New York Times. He has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, and National Newspaper Association. His books include the bestselling Frontier Lawmen trilogy—Wild Bill, Dodge City, and Tombstone—and Blood and Treasure, The Last Hill, and Throne of Grace with Bob Drury. He lives in Sag Harbor, NY.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeffrey

”Tall, lithe, and free in every motion, he rode and walked as if every muscle was perfection, and the careless swing of his body as he moved seemed perfectly in keeping with the man, the country, the time in which he lived. I do not recall anything finer in the way of physical perfection than Wild B......more

Goodreads review by Tina

Man, this was a hard book to pin down. It's technically split into three parts, but to me, it seemed like two. The first half of the book was barely about Wild Bill at all, while the second half was more focused on the legend himself. I genuinely struggled to finish reading it, but in fairness to th......more

Goodreads review by Brian

“But perhaps I may yet die with my boots on.” I grew up loving the kid’s book versions of legends of the American West. So when I saw this biography of Wild Bill Hickok, I thought, “Why not?” It had been years since I thought of the man, and reading this text brought many of the memories of him that......more

Goodreads review by Paul

Armed with contributing facts and figures based on countless hours of research, the author helped clearly debunk many of the outrageous myths that surrounded the larger-than-life figure, James Butler Hickok, the notorious, Wild Bill. Easy-to-follow, the main character became well-drawn as the storyl......more


Quotes

"The first thing you will notice about this engaging and delightful biography is that Johnny Heller sounds like a character actor who moseyed off the set of an old-fashioned oater. His voice is a little scratchy, a little seasoned, and perfectly suits this biography of larger-than-life Bill Hickok." -Christian Science Monitor