Its written by Baxter Black who is that Cowboy Philosopher on NPR, and since I know you love NPR as much as I do, I'm sure you've heard him. I really really loved this scene where one of the cowboys has fallen over a porcupine and after the fun hospital visit actually tells his girl the truth but she doesn't believe him so she dyes him purple. This is fun stuff.
I want to tell you I loved this book. It was an easy read, had a wonderful writing style with some good techniques, and was a good story. Something was just not outstanding. I think maybe it should have been 50 pages longer-- for better character development but hell, who am I to criticize? Maybe it was just the poetry. The poetry did not work for me. Sorry.
It was definitely worth reading- if for nothing else use of the phrase, "Hey, Cowboy, wanna get lucky?"
Which brings me to a thought:
You may have noticed that all the books I've put in here, except for the Lawyer stories one, have been by authors whose last name begins with B. I really and truly did pick these books by their covers. Well, by their covers and that certain je ne sais qua you get when you pick up the book. I stood in the library at the B section (someone was in the A's) and just looked through the books until one struck me then picked it up and examined its cover.
Yes! I have been judging books by their covers, and I would like to postulate this is something we should now do.
Never judge a book by its cover began back when books' covers were all pretty simple- some leather, some tooling, maybe a little gold leaf... And I like the concept that the phrase now represents-- that just because something isn't interesting at first glance does not mean it lacks substance or importance. I believe this concept is important and valid.
However, let us return to the denotation, as it were, of this phrase. Book Covers are now, and have been for some time, advertisements designed to draw in the reader to look at this book. Full color covers are quite common. Artwork, fonts, and blurbs all appear on the cover and I suggest that that's exactly what they're there for-- for you to determine if this book fits within the realm of your interest.
For example: On the cover of Hey, Cowboy, Wanna get Lucky I learn that Baxter Black is the NPR commentator. That's a plus in my mental list. The cover and artwork are good-- another plus. The back blurb is good enough not to turn you off. Frankly, it just had that certain je ne sais qua that made me select it.
So, I selected 5 books that day and only one of them could I not finish reading. That's a pretty good success rate at book cover judging. Of course, who knows what scintillating books I missed....
2 comments:
That's a pretty good book. Did someone you know suggest it to you? Perhaps some handsome, fascinating and maybe a little long in the tooth? Just curious.
HEA? Ahh, gack if you did recomend it then it was only my subconscience that remembered to draw me to the B's...or I would have completely given you credit for the recommend : )
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