The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: A Novel (P.S.)

This book would get more than five stars if it were allowed. This is one of the best books I ever read, and I am always reading something. Though it is 'fiction', the author uses a lot of words and phrases that were used in the era of 1881. Researched well, as far as I know, I think a lot of the dialogue and episodes were from primary sources (non-fiction accounts and newspapers). Over and over this writer wrote sentences or descriptions that were stunning, like: (pg. 113) "Snow made boards of his trousers..."; and (pg. 133) "...Dick slid off a stool and limped over with a mug that sloshed pennies of coffee on the floorboards." Even the punctuation was most likely from back then. The author was so dedicated to making this book seem to come right from 1881 and making the era and the people seem as if the reader is peeking in on real life scenes from then. He is either a brilliant researcher or a real good liar. In any event, he is an incredible writer. The book covers the last three months of Jesse James's life and of his assassin's, Robert Ford. I could not put this book down and, when I had to, I couldn't wait to get back to it. Now I want to read a non-fiction book of the same thing to see just how much was true, just so I don't make a fool of myself in conversation by insisting that things in this book that may have been created by the author were true. Highly recommend the movie of the same name that is on DVD. It contains many direct pieces of this book.

I had watched the movie starring Brad Pitt (as Jesse James) and Casey Affleck (as Bob Ford) when it came out in cinemas in my country, then found this book on here and bought it in the year 2015, and managed to read it now, four years later...that's a lot of time but it helped me to go through the movie again, so to say, and i'm happy because it's a very good book, every character is well described, from Jesse James, his life, his mates, to his killer, Robert Ford, who finds sort of success after shooting Jesse Woodson James on April 1882 by taking the stages here and there to play himself in front of big audiences who pay to see and feel what happened at the outlaw's house, and gambling and running saloons, but who's quickly seen as evil, a bad person, and always afraid of someone looking for him. The book features an interview with the author and the section "Jesse James, Facts and Falsehoods, Fiction and Film" to know more about the outlaw

Great depiction of a true story. Just saw the movie as well. Well written.

The title I gave this review is a bit harsh for a book I liked but it is true. I saw the film version of the novel prior to reading it.Both have similar strengths and weaknesses .A number of scenes are dragged out entirely too long to the point of boredom.At times it's a little hard to figure out what is going on.Yet, the novel is ultimately compelling and at points quite interesting.(The same is true of the movie).The novel does one important thing that the movie does not do- and couldn't do unless it was to become a mini series.It gives you a James Gang back up story that is probably the most interesting part of the book.The roots of the James Gang lay in Civil War Missouri.We have a tendency to see the Civil War in terms of regular battles between regular armies.There was some of that in Missouri, most notably the Battle of Wilson's Creek.Frank James fought for the Confederacy in that battle.While technically a Confederate victory , they were unable to capitialize on it and Confederate hopes for domination of Missouri were dashed shortly thereafter in the Battle of Pea Ridge in nearby Arkansas.But that didn't end the conflict in Missouri which devolved into an ugly guerilla war .The most famous guerilla group were Quantrills Raiders, a pro Confederate gang that routinely murdered people.Frank James, Jesse James and Cole Younger- the most prominent members of the James Gang- all road with Quantrill.It was their basic training.They came out of the war extremly hardened and vicious.They tended to justify their conduct in terms of the war acting as if they were still fighting the Yankees.Importantly a large number of pro Confederate Missourian's , more or less bought it and turned a blind eye to the James Gang or even helped them.That is probably why the gang continued for so long and why Jesse James was able to hide in plain sight for years. Hansen clearly rejects a romanticized image of James.His Jesse James is a rather creepy character.However his assassin ,Bob Ford is even creepier.He is not at all motivated by law and order or moral sentiments.I didn't even get the impression that he was all that interested in the reward for killing James.He seems to resent James' exisistence.James looms too large for him and suffocates him.He wants to be a big man and killing James is the ticket to that.Unfortunately , Ford made a major blunder , at least from a public relations standpoint, he shot an unarmed James in the back while his wife and children were in the house.At first the public may have been largely relieved but as people began to think about it, they began to turn on Ford.It didn't help that Ford was cleary an arrogant jerk. The book is overly long and at times irritating.It should have been cut down in size.Had it been sensibly edited ,it may have been a borderline great book .As it stands it's a very worthwhile book especially for people interested in American history.A good book to read before or after it would be TRUE GRIT in which Frank James and Cole Younger make a brief but telling guest appearance.

What a great book. A wonderful work of historical fiction and drama. Yes, fiction, but obviously very well researched. Ron Hansen's style of writing is incredibly immersing. It's hard for me to sit down and read a book for hours on end but I did not have that problem with this one. A must-read for fans of historical fiction, whether you hate or love Jesse James. I personally find him appalling, but I still enjoyed this book immensely because Hansen paints neither James nor Ford as an incredible hero or an absolute villain, but explores their complex relationship. I look forward to exploring Hansen's other works.

Mr. Hansen's research into Jesse James's last years and further into Robert Ford's last years after Jesse's assassination are (in my opinion) very realistic. It is written both as a history book and a novel. Where facts clearly play out in the actions of this closely knit group, since they are made up of cousins/long time friends, Mr. Hansen lays out the facts. At other times, when the facts aren't found in newsprint or journals, narration and possible actions on the part of the people involved are inserted to carry over to the next factual occurrence. This book was very enjoyable to read. Even though I knew the outcome, getting there was a non-stop read.

Stunning book: the factual made mythic by imagination and the style of writing. Jesse James takes on a legendary aura - although the book is built around real events - and is stalked by a sense of approaching and inevitable disaster in the guise of the coward Robert Ford. Some tension is inevitably lost after Jesse's slaying, but the progress of Ford's life and death is fascinating also. I found this account totally convincing and moving also in its exploration of deceit and its consequences, and the slowly building tragedy that unfolds.The pages dealing with the morning of the murder and all the small details of that day are quite brilliant as time itself seems to fall into slow-motion. The book also fills in some of the details that are a little confusing in the fine film that grew from it... Wonderful.

A nice, flowing narrative

I agree with other reviewers that this is a powerful well written and researched book. It's a pity then that the Kindle edition contains many errors where the text hasn't been converted accurately. There are just too many misspellings, incorrect capitalisations and incorrect punctuations and they get in the way of reading.

Gripping story

Read this book a few years back now but only just getting around to reviewing it now! Was a very good book which I found surprising as I was not expecting it too be as good as the movie, I just assumed it would be one of those books which is word for word exactly like how the movie is but to my surprise it is an in depth detailed book and even includes parts that weren't in the movie. It was very well written and it is like a novel but also informative at the same time.