DUTCHMAN'S FLAT -- Louis L'Amour

Bantam Books -- pb
Toronto -- ©1986 -- 241pp
ISBN: 0-553-26188-6
cover art: Frank McCarthy

A collection of short stories, each with a forward by the author.

"Dutchman's Flat"
"Keep Travelin', Rider"
"Trail to Pie Town"
"Mistakes Can Kill You"
"Big Medicine"
"Man From Battle Flat"
"West of the Tularosas"
"McQueen of the Tumbling K"
"The One for the Mohave Kid"
"The Lion Hunter and the Lady"
"A Gun for Kilkenny"

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The choice to read this book was based on the fact that I was heading out on vacation to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. It seemed appropriate, then, to read some western fiction, and of course when one thinks of westerns, one usually thinks of Louis L'Amour.

I've actually quite enjoyed the L'Amour books I've read in the past. I've described L'Amour as a very good story-teller. I still hold this to be true. Perhaps not a great writer, but he knows how to engage the reader in his particular genre.

The stories in this collection vary quite a bit. Most seem rather formulaic and all rely on a few favorable circumstances for the hero to succeed, rather than based on the hero's own good works.

Even so, the glimpses of good story-telling can be found in most of these stories. Still, I would recommend a Louis L'Amour novel before this collection of stories.