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book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Audible Audio performed by David Aaron Baker, Scott Sowers, and Henry Strozier.
3.5***, rounded up
Berger’s novel purports to be a memoir/autobiography of Jack Crabb, written with the help of ghost writer Ralph Snell. “Snell” opens the prologue thus: It was my privilege to know the late Jack Crabb – frontiersman, Indian scout, gunfighter, buffalo hunter, adopted Cheyenne – in his final days upon this earth. He goes on to relate how he learned of the reportedly 111-year-old man living in a nursing home, who claimed to be an eyewitness to Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The bulk of the novel is Crabb’s first-person account is life experiences from about 1852 to 1876. Snell then returns in an epilogue to explain that Crabb died shortly after relating that last chapter (Little Bighorn), and he regrets that he was unable to learn more of Crabb’s many exploits through the decades.
I was completely entertained by this novel of the American West. Berger gives the reader quite the raconteur in Crabb, with a gift for story-telling and colorful language. By the narrator’s own account, he certainly has a gift for landing on his feet, managing to get out of more than one potentially deadly scrape by his wits or sheer dumb luck. As he grows from boyhood Crabb is kidnapped / adopted by a Cheyenne tribe, taken in and sheltered by a minister and his wife, “works” as a gambler and gunfighter, hunts buffalo, marries a Scandinavian woman who speaks limited English, and eventually becomes a scout for George Armstrong Custer, thereby witnessing the US Army’s defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Along the way he rejoins the Cheyenne tribe numerous times, listening to the advice of Old Lodge Skins, and relating much of the culture and traditions of that Native tribe, as well as what life was like for the European settlers during that time period.
If the scenarios stretch credulity, well that is part of the fun. We have always looked on the American West with a sort of awe and wonder, elevating many of the historical figures to the level of superhuman legends. Berger sprinkles Crabb’s recollections with a number of these people: Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp and Custer, among others.
In the epilogue Snell writes ”I leave the choice in your capable hands. Jack Crabb was either the most neglected hero in the history of this country or a liar of insane proportions.. It’s fun to imagine that some “Everyman” did witness so much history first hand. His exploits could easily be the inspiration for “Forest Gump.”
The audiobook is performed by a talented trio: David Aaron Baker, Scott Sowers, and Henry Strozier. I do not know which narrated which sections, but they were all good.
3.5***, rounded up
Berger’s novel purports to be a memoir/autobiography of Jack Crabb, written with the help of ghost writer Ralph Snell. “Snell” opens the prologue thus: It was my privilege to know the late Jack Crabb – frontiersman, Indian scout, gunfighter, buffalo hunter, adopted Cheyenne – in his final days upon this earth. He goes on to relate how he learned of the reportedly 111-year-old man living in a nursing home, who claimed to be an eyewitness to Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The bulk of the novel is Crabb’s first-person account is life experiences from about 1852 to 1876. Snell then returns in an epilogue to explain that Crabb died shortly after relating that last chapter (Little Bighorn), and he regrets that he was unable to learn more of Crabb’s many exploits through the decades.
I was completely entertained by this novel of the American West. Berger gives the reader quite the raconteur in Crabb, with a gift for story-telling and colorful language. By the narrator’s own account, he certainly has a gift for landing on his feet, managing to get out of more than one potentially deadly scrape by his wits or sheer dumb luck. As he grows from boyhood Crabb is kidnapped / adopted by a Cheyenne tribe, taken in and sheltered by a minister and his wife, “works” as a gambler and gunfighter, hunts buffalo, marries a Scandinavian woman who speaks limited English, and eventually becomes a scout for George Armstrong Custer, thereby witnessing the US Army’s defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Along the way he rejoins the Cheyenne tribe numerous times, listening to the advice of Old Lodge Skins, and relating much of the culture and traditions of that Native tribe, as well as what life was like for the European settlers during that time period.
If the scenarios stretch credulity, well that is part of the fun. We have always looked on the American West with a sort of awe and wonder, elevating many of the historical figures to the level of superhuman legends. Berger sprinkles Crabb’s recollections with a number of these people: Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp and Custer, among others.
In the epilogue Snell writes ”I leave the choice in your capable hands. Jack Crabb was either the most neglected hero in the history of this country or a liar of insane proportions.. It’s fun to imagine that some “Everyman” did witness so much history first hand. His exploits could easily be the inspiration for “Forest Gump.”
The audiobook is performed by a talented trio: David Aaron Baker, Scott Sowers, and Henry Strozier. I do not know which narrated which sections, but they were all good.
mintymac's review against another edition
Didn't keep my attention. May revisit another time.
richardwells's review against another edition
5.0
Haven't seen the movie, and a long time coming to the book. It was worth the wait. I'd put it on the shelf with Lonesome Dove if it weren't in a kindle edition and from the library to boot.
Little Big Man, a.k.a., Jack Crabbe, or Jack Crabbe, a.k.a., Little Big Man covers 34 years in the life of this Zelig like character, and culminates at the Little Big Horn. Berger and McMurtry both hoped to bust the myth of the American West, they fail, and in failing create a new mythology, a little less worn than the old, possibly closer to truth, but no less exciting.
This book is hilarious, elegiac, fantastic, and totally believable, even as it's narrated by a 112 year old white man who spend most of his life living with the Cheyenne.
High praise: good tale, well told.
Little Big Man, a.k.a., Jack Crabbe, or Jack Crabbe, a.k.a., Little Big Man covers 34 years in the life of this Zelig like character, and culminates at the Little Big Horn. Berger and McMurtry both hoped to bust the myth of the American West, they fail, and in failing create a new mythology, a little less worn than the old, possibly closer to truth, but no less exciting.
This book is hilarious, elegiac, fantastic, and totally believable, even as it's narrated by a 112 year old white man who spend most of his life living with the Cheyenne.
High praise: good tale, well told.
leslielu67's review against another edition
5.0
One of the three Great American Western Novels (19th c setting), the others being Huckleberry Finn and Blood Meridian. Berger did his research - there are little details of Little Bighorn (dropped packs, horse colors, Curley) that place fictional Crabbe right in the middle of the battle.
krep___'s review against another edition
3.75
A tale of the old west, in particular about the conflict between white expansion and Native Americans, told through the colorful life story of the (fictional) sole white survivor of Custer's Last Stand, who lived in both worlds, wandering back and forth across the chasm that separated them over the course of his early decades. Darkly comic and told in fun, consistent dialect. A different (nice?) way to absorb a horrible, tragic chapter in American history. Narration of the audiobook is done very well.
zoenelson's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A fantastic panoramic story that perfectly places us in the position of feeling like you’re really listening to an old man ramble on about his life and memories. You can see and feel the details, grisly or extraneous.
At times the pacing could be hard to follow and the descriptions/perspectives were difficult to stomach.
Overall, it challenged me and made me think deeply. I felt the historical context I was placed in and felt the author accomplished what he set out to do.
At times the pacing could be hard to follow and the descriptions/perspectives were difficult to stomach.
Overall, it challenged me and made me think deeply. I felt the historical context I was placed in and felt the author accomplished what he set out to do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Colonisation, Genocide, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Gore, Animal death, and Gun violence
llkendrick's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
This was a fun one to read! Not the best Western/Indian novel I've ever read but still entertaining. I think there was a little too much name-dropping, as in he met every famous person of that time period and witnessed every major event happening. One reviewer said that the main character Forrest Gump-ed his way through the Wild West, and that is a perfect description. Still worth the read!
This was a fun one to read! Not the best Western/Indian novel I've ever read but still entertaining. I think there was a little too much name-dropping, as in he met every famous person of that time period and witnessed every major event happening. One reviewer said that the main character Forrest Gump-ed his way through the Wild West, and that is a perfect description. Still worth the read!
tigermuffin's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favorite books ever, still have the old thing stashed somewhere and I should mail it back to the lady who loaned it to me..way back in the '80's.
rojo25's review against another edition
4.0
This book was well researched and well told. I have to say this was quite entertaining and there was a wealth of interesting information regarding tracking and Native American life. I highly recommend.