The Brave Cowboy
Encyclopedia
The Brave Cowboy was Edward Abbey
's second published novel
, as detailed in James M. Cahalan's biography of Abbey. The first-edition of the book is considered the rarest of Abbey's eight novels. There was only one printing of 5,000 copies and many of them have not survived. One online rare book dealer shows copies of the first U.S. edition start at $4,000 and the highest asking price is $10,000.
In 1993 Dream Garden Press produced a special limited edition of the book that includes an introduction by Kirk Douglas
, who was the star in the film made about the book. It also includes photos from the film. Douglas signed 500 copies of that special edition.
(Jack Burns), who lives as a transient worker and roaming ranch hand much as the cowboys of old did, and refuses to join modern society. He rejects much of modern technology, prefers to cut down any fence he comes across, will not carry any kind of modern identification such as a driver's license
or Social Security
card, and refuses to register for the draft. When his friend Paul Bondi, who is a philosophical anarchist, is jailed for refusing to register for the draft, Burns deliberately gets himself arrested in an attempt to break
his friend out of jail
, but winds up on the run from the law himself.
Bondi has been tried and is awaiting transport from county jail to federal prison but refuses to escape with Burns. As police have discovered that Burns has also never registered for the draft, authorities are intent on sending Burns to trial and eventually federal prison for violation of the Selective Service Act of 1948. Burns eventually escapes reluctantly leaving his friend behind. After a brief stop to say goodbye to Paul's wife (Jerry) and son (Seth), Jack heads for the nearest mountains on horseback.
The police mount a manhunt and pull out all the stops to capture Burns, including helicopters on loan by the Air Force. If Burns can scale the mountain range, he figures he can escape under the cover of the forest on the other side. The police know this as well, so they position themselves to prevent that from happening.
After some time in hiding, the police give up their hunt. Jack rides out on his horse and gets hit by a semi truck on the road where he dies.
novel, Good News. Burns makes cameo appearances in both The Monkey Wrench Gang
and Hayduke Lives
.
Brave Cowboy also contains elements of future books, though the relationship between them is unclear. The Brave Cowboy explains that Burns is the grandson of Henry Vogelin, whose ranch Burns spent time on as a child. The ranch, currently in the hands of the US Air Force is part of a base commanded by General DeSalius. Vogelin and DeSalius will be characters six years later in Abbey's 1962 work "Fire on the Mountain
", the story of a boy from the East Coast who visits his grandfather's ranch and falls in love with the desert and ranch life just in time to see both destroyed by development. However, Burns's time on the ranch is well detailed in The Brave Cowboy and the only characters the stories share are Vogelin and DeSalius. Though the book is written as a memoir, Jack seems too old to have been the boy staying on the ranch at the moment of dispossession. Having written Fire On The Mountain after the Brave Cowboy, Abbey chose to write about the child "Billy" rejecting the option of using the novel to explain the past of Jack Burns. Yet it is still possible that the novels are directly linked as the number of Vogelin's children is never revealed. Jack and Billy may be cousins or brothers, and the Vogelin and ranch in question may indeed be the same in both novels.
called the film version of The Brave Cowboy, Lonely Are the Brave
, his personal favorite. It was released in 1962 and is one of only two films made based on Abbey's novels. (The second was Fire on the Mountain
, which was a made for TV film that starred Ron Howard
and Buddy Ebsen
). A third film based on Abbey's most popular novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang
, is currently in production and expected to be released in 2012. Catherine Hardwicke
is scheduled to direct the film.
Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...
's second published novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, as detailed in James M. Cahalan's biography of Abbey. The first-edition of the book is considered the rarest of Abbey's eight novels. There was only one printing of 5,000 copies and many of them have not survived. One online rare book dealer shows copies of the first U.S. edition start at $4,000 and the highest asking price is $10,000.
In 1993 Dream Garden Press produced a special limited edition of the book that includes an introduction by Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, who was the star in the film made about the book. It also includes photos from the film. Douglas signed 500 copies of that special edition.
Plot summary
This book is the story of a cowboyCowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
(Jack Burns), who lives as a transient worker and roaming ranch hand much as the cowboys of old did, and refuses to join modern society. He rejects much of modern technology, prefers to cut down any fence he comes across, will not carry any kind of modern identification such as a driver's license
Driver's license
A driver's license/licence , or driving licence is an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, car, truck or a bus, on a public roadway. Most U.S...
or Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
card, and refuses to register for the draft. When his friend Paul Bondi, who is a philosophical anarchist, is jailed for refusing to register for the draft, Burns deliberately gets himself arrested in an attempt to break
Prison escape
A prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...
his friend out of jail
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, but winds up on the run from the law himself.
Bondi has been tried and is awaiting transport from county jail to federal prison but refuses to escape with Burns. As police have discovered that Burns has also never registered for the draft, authorities are intent on sending Burns to trial and eventually federal prison for violation of the Selective Service Act of 1948. Burns eventually escapes reluctantly leaving his friend behind. After a brief stop to say goodbye to Paul's wife (Jerry) and son (Seth), Jack heads for the nearest mountains on horseback.
The police mount a manhunt and pull out all the stops to capture Burns, including helicopters on loan by the Air Force. If Burns can scale the mountain range, he figures he can escape under the cover of the forest on the other side. The police know this as well, so they position themselves to prevent that from happening.
After some time in hiding, the police give up their hunt. Jack rides out on his horse and gets hit by a semi truck on the road where he dies.
Links to Other Work
Many casual fans of Abbey might consider George Washington Hayduke as the author's favorite character, but it was John W. "Jack" Burns who Abbey kept writing about. Burns is introduced for the first time in The Brave Cowboy. He is also a major character in Abbey's science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel, Good News. Burns makes cameo appearances in both The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey , published in 1975.Easily Abbey's most famous fiction work, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the American Southwest, and was so influential that the term "monkeywrench"...
and Hayduke Lives
Hayduke Lives
Hayduke Lives! , written in 1989 by Edward Abbey, is the sequel to the popular book The Monkey Wrench Gang. It was published posthumously in 1990.-Plot summary:...
.
Brave Cowboy also contains elements of future books, though the relationship between them is unclear. The Brave Cowboy explains that Burns is the grandson of Henry Vogelin, whose ranch Burns spent time on as a child. The ranch, currently in the hands of the US Air Force is part of a base commanded by General DeSalius. Vogelin and DeSalius will be characters six years later in Abbey's 1962 work "Fire on the Mountain
Fire on the Mountain (novel)
Fire on the Mountain is a 1962 novel by Edward Abbey. It was Abbey's third published novel and followed Jonathan Troy and The Brave Cowboy....
", the story of a boy from the East Coast who visits his grandfather's ranch and falls in love with the desert and ranch life just in time to see both destroyed by development. However, Burns's time on the ranch is well detailed in The Brave Cowboy and the only characters the stories share are Vogelin and DeSalius. Though the book is written as a memoir, Jack seems too old to have been the boy staying on the ranch at the moment of dispossession. Having written Fire On The Mountain after the Brave Cowboy, Abbey chose to write about the child "Billy" rejecting the option of using the novel to explain the past of Jack Burns. Yet it is still possible that the novels are directly linked as the number of Vogelin's children is never revealed. Jack and Billy may be cousins or brothers, and the Vogelin and ranch in question may indeed be the same in both novels.
Film version
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
called the film version of The Brave Cowboy, Lonely Are the Brave
Lonely are the Brave
Lonely are the Brave is a 1962 film adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy. It stars Kirk Douglas as cowboy Jack Burns, Gena Rowlands as his best friend's wife, and Walter Matthau as a sheriff who sympathizes with Burns but must do his job and chase him down...
, his personal favorite. It was released in 1962 and is one of only two films made based on Abbey's novels. (The second was Fire on the Mountain
Fire on the Mountain (film)
Fire on the Mountain is a 1981 made-for-television movie adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel, Fire on the Mountain starring Buddy Ebsen as John Vogelin, Ron Howard as Lee Mackie and Michael Conrad as Col...
, which was a made for TV film that starred Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
and Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
). A third film based on Abbey's most popular novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang
The Monkey Wrench Gang is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey , published in 1975.Easily Abbey's most famous fiction work, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the American Southwest, and was so influential that the term "monkeywrench"...
, is currently in production and expected to be released in 2012. Catherine Hardwicke
Catherine Hardwicke
Catherine Hardwicke is an American production designer, film writer and film director. Her works include the independent film Thirteen, which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed, the film's co-star, the Biblically-themed The Nativity Story, the vampire film Twilight, and the werewolf film Red Riding Hood...
is scheduled to direct the film.