..Book Reviews..

Having left school at 15 in the 1920s, L'Amour began chasing whatever odd jobs he could find. The need for work took him all across the country, and eventually across much of the world. He spent time as a merchant seaman, a mine caretaker, and a prize fighter. All the while he read voraciously. He often read over 100 books in a year.

L'Amour details his education in the books he read rather than in the adventures he experienced. He claims he went on such adventures out of necessity, not as an attempt to pad his life experience and give himself a wealth of writing material. His reading list is vast and varied, including a few recognizable classics, but overwhelming stuffed with odd and random works of philosophy, history, and memoir.

To the claim that people don't have time to read, L'Amour says, "That's absolute nonsense. In the one year during which I kept that kind of record, I read twenty-five books while waiting for people." Although he dropped out of school, he considers education to be of monumental importance. He respects teachers and institutes of learning, but recognizes that school can only teach so much: "No matter how much I admire our schools, I know that no university exists that can provide an education; what a university can provide is an outline, to give the learner a direction and guidance. The rest one has to do for oneself."

Despite being a glorified reading list, this book is a great read. It's extremely well written and includes enough personal details about his adventures to keep your interest. It's a must-read for any L'Amour fan, and a good book for any would-be writer. The only question left in my mind was why such a well-read and well-educated man wrote stories of such limited depth. Of the several L'Amour books I've read, most of them are simply excellent stories--but they lack the themes, symbols, and literary stuff that make English teachers drool. While I don't understand this writing philosophy, I loved this book.