As Good as Gone

By: Larry Watson

Narrated by: Richard Poe

The American West is best-selling author Larry Watson's forte, and in this, his tenth novel, he has created his most vivid, genuine antihero yet in Calvin Sidey, a man stuck in a myth.

Calvin Sidey - steely, hardened, with his own personal code - is one of the last cowboys. It's the 1960s, and he's living off the grid in a trailer on the prairie when his adult son, Bill, seeks his help. A mostly absentee father and grandfather, Calvin nevertheless agrees to stay with his grandchildren for a week. He decamps for his son's house in the small town where he once was a mythic figure, and soon enough problems arise: A boy's attentions to 17-year-old Ann are increasingly aggressive, and a group of reckless kids portend danger for 11-year-old Will.

Calvin knows only one way to solve a problem: the Old West way, in which ultimatums are issued and your gun is always loaded. In the changing culture of the 1960s, Calvin isn't just a relic; he's a wild card. At the same time, his old-school ways exert a powerful effect on those around him, from widowed neighbor Beverly Lodge, who feels herself falling for him and wants to be part of his life, to his grandchildren. Ann and Will see in their grandfather a man who brings a sudden, if shocking, order to their lives, as Calvin terrorizes those who have often terrorized them.

With the crisp, restrained prose for which Larry Watson is revered, As Good as Gone is a story of a man increasingly at odds with the world. This is Larry Watson at his best.

©2016 Larry Watson (P)2016 Recorded Books

for fans of Yellowstone and Taylor Sheridan

it's a neowestern drama feeling much like best moments of Yellowstone's 1st season, Wind river and Hell or high water. I don't know if Taylor Sheridan drew inspiration from this novel, but it felt very familiar to me.

the reading is superb.

the reality

real car problems and sounds. funny humor in the senior love affair. real tough guys don't alway win

Enjoyable

This is a tough book to review. It held my attention and kept me listening because I was anxiously waiting the exciting part. Each story line (character) just fizzled out. When it said "The End", I was left surprised and dissatisfied. Good story but no conclusion

Enjoyable

I listened to this novel while traveling though Montana. It was a good tale. As a result I’ll look into more books by this author.

What's the Point + Wrong Description

Although it is updated now, the book description on Audible when I bought this did not match the actual book. Although Larry Watson has written some other good books, this one just wanders around and there is never any real point or conclusion. It's like random memoirs. I kept waiting for something to happen that would pull it together--but it never did.