I read this book about 3 days ago and it has stayed with me even after finishing my next. It is by John Williams (who wrote Stoner), but I enjoyed this book just as much as Stoner, if not more.
I HIGHLY recommend it if you like Blood Meridian or westerns. I don’t read many westerns and I loved it.
Without spoilers, the book serves as both a fantastic western, a critique on Westerns, and an enthralling, absorbing story.
5/5
(Please don’t spoil anything in the comments, I’m hoping to get others to read it).
by britishbrandy
13 Comments
This booktuber I watch called Man Carrying Thing LOVES that book. He’s recommended it a lot. But I’ve been hesitant to read it bc there’s a lot of animal death involved. But seriously you’d probably like his other recs just fyi
Incredible book, probably my third favorite western behind Lonesome Dove and True Grit.
I read this at the suggestion of a fellow writer. While I did like the overall trajectory of the story, I did feel the individual beats were a little predictable and I felt as I read I was simply waiting for the next expected ‘thing’ to happen. At least, it did not strike that right balance for me between offering the reader something to expect and arriving at that expected moment in an interesting way. It is a shorter book from what I remember, but I think it could have benefitted from a feeling of expansiveness that wasn’t there for me.
i read it after the wondrous stoner. i loved it.
Thanks!
Stoner gets a lot of love on this sub and so should Butcher’s Crossing. Thanks for posting this.
Just finished it tonight. I only found this book because I was looking for something similar to The Border Trilogy.
I’m a bit conflicted about it, but that’s not really due to the writing itself but rather because of its subject.
I’ve long maintained that the slaughter of the American Bison is one of the great tragedies of American history and so it was tough to read. It’s estimated that there were as many as 30 million Bison in North America and by the late 1800s, there were less than 300 left in the wild. Absolutely heartbreaking, imo.
Again, not really the fault of the author and I rather think a big point of this book is about the absurdity of that part of American history but it’s still not something I like to spend a lot of time thinking about.
Fortunately, the killing is a rather small part of the actual book. There were also some great sequences in this book. >!When they first set out towards Colorado and they leave the Smoky Hill Trail and can’t find water for two days made for some intense reading!<.
Agreed. It’s excellent. Really made me wish we had more books from Williams.
I read it back to back with Stoner, and was amused by the reversal… in one, a subsistence farm boy goes to university. In the other, an urbanite university grad goes full Wild West.
Are there any similarities to Stoner? Writing style? Stoner is my all-time favorite book, so im very eager to check out Butcher’s Crossing!
Thank you for this suggestion. I enjoyed Stoner very much, so I’ll look forward to pick this one up.
It’s on my to-read list!!!! Thank you for reminding me! I **adored** *Stoner.*
I may be 31 days too late but I started reading this yesterday, only about 40 some pages in but every excited to keep on reading!
John Williams has made me fall in love with literature. Starting with Stoner and now again with butchers crossing.