It’s clear that Clavin was taken with his subject ... Since much of Hickok’s life is layered in unsubstantiated lore, Clavin has done a masterful job of organizing the bits and pieces into a comprehensible, credible biography, as charming in its way as the man himself.
Clavin’s chief objective in retelling this story is to entertain us. An equally meritorious goal is to peel away the myth and folklore to reveal the historical truth beneath, a real challenge given that most of the record consists of sensationalized press reports and fictitious dime novel versions of the events ... Clavin, who is a wily veteran of the writing trade, tacks up the truth like wanted posters in every chapter, while simultaneously savoring a few of the more fanciful falsehoods along the way, a neat trick in which he displays some ambidexterity of his own ... Not all of the scenery here is interesting, not all of the events are credible and we may even suffer a few mental saddle sores from blunt transitions and dull Wikipedia-like prose, but for the most part this is a pleasant enough trail ride of a book. Just don’t expect this quarter horse to prance like a Tennessee Walker ... The story ends predictably (even Wild Bill predicts it)...
Mr Clavin, whose previous book explored the legend of Dodge City, takes a swipe at an earlier Hickok biography as a 'somewhat mind-numbing saga of facts and disclaimers and rebuttals'. Inevitably, though, in telling 'the true story' of Hickok’s life, he resorts to disclaimers and rebuttals himself. Hickok may or may not have been mauled by a bear. He was said to have founded the Pony Express (he didn’t); he may or may not have had an affair with the besotted Libbie Custer. As the author says, the truth about some of these claims will never be known ... In Mr Clavin’s formulaic prose, men 'wet their whistles' and prospectors are 'busy as beavers'. Still, when Hickok becomes marshal in the cow town of Abilene, Kansas, the pace tightens. The stage is set for his stumbling descent into early-morning drinking, gambling losses and cruelly deteriorating eyesight.
Well written, full of vivid characters, and detailed, but built largely from existing literature, this is an accessible celebration of Hickok’s life rather than a rigorous deconstruction of his romantic mythos. Casual fans of the Old West and the HBO show Deadwood will appreciate the wild ride.
Throughout the book, the author often has little to write about Hickok and fills most of the text with background on the people who passed through the gunman's life 'and deserve a detour here.' The copy editor did not let formal grammar interfere with the author's colorful and entertaining prose. Wild Bill has no annotation, but it does have a bibliography.
Clavin writes fluently and often entertainingly of a man shrouded in legend while being all too human ... The author also ably picks apart what is likely or actual from what is invented, including a whole tangle of tales involving a certain Calamity Jane and penny-dreadful stories that were circulating about him even while Hickok was still alive ... Good history accessibly and ably told.
Rollicking but vaguely sourced ... The absence of detailed source citations and Clavin’s acknowledgment that many writings about Hickok are embellished or unverifiable suggest that this is less a sober work of history than an entertaining tale of the man and the legend.
