The Good Old Boys Author:Elmer Kelton Hewey Calloway has a problem. In his West Texas home of 1906, the land and the way of life that he loves are changing too quickly for his taste. — Hewey dreams of freedom -- he wants only to be a footloose, horseback cowboy, endlessly wandering the open range. But the open range of his childhood is slowly disappearing: land is being parceled out,... more » and barbed-wire fences are spring up all over. As if that weren't enough, cars and other machines are invading Hewey's simple cowboy life, stinking up the area and threatening to replace horse travel. As Hewey struggles against the relentless stream of "progress", he comes to realize that the simple life of his childhood is gone, that a man can't live a life whose time has passed, and that every choice he makes -- even those that lead to happiness -- requires a sacrifice.« less
I thoroughly enjoyed this western. Hewey went home only to heal the emotional wounds he'd left there years before and found his brother in dire straits.
My bar-none favorite of the twenty or so Elmer Kelton books I have read and enjoyed so far.
My goal is to read everything Elmer Kelton has written. As fas as I'm concerned, he is the premier Western author, head and shoulders above Louis L'Amour. His books are more believable, and far less preachy. Most of them take place in Texas which adds to my enjoyment.
I'm "Cheesehead" (Wisconsin native)by birth, but Texan by choice, having lived here since 1973.
Kelton died about two years ago, but his estate is still publishing new work of his occasionally. When he started, he wrote using two psuedonyms, one of which was Tom Early. He wrote an execellent four book saga called "Sons of Texas" under the that name. Kelton was a journalist at that time and thought writing fiction under his real name might harm his credibility.