Elmer McCurdy: The Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw

by Mark Svenvold and Roy P. Basler

Book Overview

Born 1880. Died 1911. Buried 1977. These are the misadventures of America's most fascinating dead outlaw. When Elmer McCurdy was shot dead by an Oklahoma sheriff and his posse after a short spree of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 046508348X
• ISBN13: 9780465083480
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Elmer McCurdy

Poor Elmer! This is one of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time. If you are interested in the history of the amusement business; old west; mummies; trains; outlaws; this book is a must have! This book is easy to read and has quite a lot of photograhs.

Truth is stranger than fiction! !

What a crazy mixed up pile of stuff! I like Westerns,Ripley's Believe it or Not!,truth is stranger than fiction stuff,unusual characters,history,oddities,greatly miss the old freak shows that travelled with the carnivals,real life outlaws,and you name it.History is full of this stuff and to me much more fun to delve into than fiction.While the author didn't seem to come up with too much on old Elmer;probably because his short and non-illustrious produced very little;he sure found enough to spin around what he did have to create a good interresting read.I believe the period after the Civil War until the start of the 2WW produced some of the most interresting characters and times in American history.That was all before the do gooders, politically correct,boring and otherwise anal-retentive got everything under control.But then again, they probably prefer reading about some corporate business scam to the gangster days of Capone and all. Since this was the first thing I've read by the author I'll be looking to find something else from him.From what he did with this story I am sure he'll be giving us some more good stuff in the future.

Outlaw Poetry

It's not often that one sees a biography written in such a literate, even poetic manner. Mr. Svenvold has taken the tale of the hapless outlaw, Elmer McCurdy, in a new and interesting direction: rather than reporting his life and times (and ignominious post-mortem "career") in a cut-and-dried manner, Mr. Svenvold has woven an incisive, at times deadpan-hilarious commentary on the fading Wild West, the rise of sideshows and exploitation flicks, theme tourism and other illustrations of just how low the entertainment taste of the American public can go. Notwithstanding Mr. Svenvold's concerns that he was just another in the long line of the day-glow corpse's "exploiters," he has written the equivalent of a decent burial for poor dead Elmer. Highly recommended.

Carla Lane

I stumbled upon this book and wow what a romp. It is an amazing story, told poetically and smartly. Svenvold tells us the story of the 20th century in American through the adventures of a corpse! Bravo to this author. I guarantee anyone who chooses to read this book will love it. It's the book I'm giving to all my friends this year.

Weaving 101

This book is a how-to for wannabe writers on picking up the threads of different storylines and weaving them together into one terrific read! And for the rest of us, it's just a great book! It's part history, part social commentary, part science, and part plain old fun. You got your turn of the century wild west, you got some 1970s television history, you got your forensics... The author's point of view (coupled with tight, fine writing) makes it gel. You can see him winking between the lines; you can feel him squirming sometimes. "Elmer McCurdy" is a delightful book to read, and you almost can't help but learn something along the way. Hmmm, that gives me an idea for my teenage son... Can you say "book report?"