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 From Hell to Jackson Hole: A Poetic History of the American WestISBN: 0965348776 US$18.95 US$10.44 or FREE with purchase of 2 other BHB books 144 pages; trade paper; full-color illustrations; endnotes This collection of condensed biographies, delightful tidbits, and poetry, illustrated by works of Western art, is a journey through time and the whole sweep of the American West up to and including the Hollywood legends. The poems distill and condense the lives of colorful historical characters, some you already know and some you’ll want to meet. Johnson’s ear is perfectly tuned to Western speech and humor. But some of the poems will stand your hair on end, like “Sand Creek,” a dirge of a report on broken treaties. When the last page is turned something sharp lingers in the mind — possibly the smoking brand of the West on the American psyche. Includes full-color illustrations of museum masterpieces by Bill Ried, Haida, Albert Bierstadt, Margaretta (Mrs. Jonas W.) Brown, James Earle Frazer, Charles M. Russell, Georgia O’Keefe, Peter Hurd, and Edd Hayes. |
Step into the boots of 15-year-old John Wesley Hardin:You draw the Colt won in a poker game,
and hold it like a rattlesnake
whose long bite you can aim
at anyone you please.
“From Hell to Jackson Hole is a book to read in two sittings and browse through for the rest of your life. Michael Johnson takes the history of the West and abstracts it, distills it, condenses it to a series of sharp-edged images so profound that I was often tempted to copy them down and send them to friends...
“John G. Niehardt started out in 1912 to ... tell the story of the West in verse form... In fewer stanzas and far fewer lines, Johnson stands at a larger canvas. He begins with Raven, perched atop the clam shell, trying to coax First Men to come out...
“I’m looking for a Western American Literature textbook, and I’m tempted to give my students From Hell to Jackson Hole and tell them to go and write the footnotes for it. By the time they finished, they’d be experts on the history and mythology of our West.
“I want to share some of the highlights of this book of poems, but Johnson has put highlights on every damn page... (T)here’s “The End of the Trail.” I’ve sat and studied James Early Fraser’s sculpture, but Johnson’s poem brought me to my knees in front of it... “The Rise and Fall of Bartholomew ‘Bat’ Masterson.” Nine words in the whole poem. Two lines, and they rhyme. Eighteen syllables... I put the poem down and then came back to it with a sudden realization: Johnson doesn't just summarize Masterson’s life in nine words. He summarizes the movies and the myths as well.
“I like the fact that this book isn’t just the “good ol’ days” kind of stuff...
“Whether you like browsing through history of an evening or arguing with an author over issues of ecology and politics, this is a book you’ll keep pulling off the shelf. You’ll find youself quoting it to friends. Or for real entertainment, give them their own copies and sit back to watch.”
— James C. Work, author of Ride South to Purgatory and other books, and editor of Prose and Poetry of the American West
“He possesses the wryest of wits.”
— The Lawrence Journal-World
“Terse insights ... consistently well-crafted ... ranging from prickly to truly funny.”
— Western American Literature: Quarterly Journal of the Western Literature Association
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