I read and re-read “Wild Times.” Wore out a couple of copies.
I read the covers off Brian Garfield’s “Wild Times.” How I loved this tale of a fictional Wild West showman, a rival to Buffalo Bill named Col. Hugh Cardiff. His picaresque adventures across the West from the 1860s through the early 20th Century were a lasting delight.
I came to the book through watching the 1980 miniseries starring Sam Elliott. At the age of 14 or 15, I wanted nothing more than to shoot a Hawken Rifle, wear a fringed buckskin shirt and a big Texas hat and sport a luxuriant mustache like Sam’s Hugh Cardiff. Yeah, I know. I wasn’t your normal suburban So Cal kid.
And damned if I didn’t do the best I could. Somebody gave me a Stetson Open Road, which, while not big, was sure-enough a Stetson, and I had a nice, quality air rifle and I spent hours in my backyard trying to match the shooting prowess of Col. Cardiff. As for the mustache, well, that’s a gift God only gave to Sam Elliott and Emiliano Zapata.
“Wild Times” explores the reality and the mythologizing of the frontier through the eyes of a man who had a hand in both. Garfield, who wrote a bunch of thrillers, including “Death Wish,” was a damn fine writer. “Wild Times” holds up to my adult eyes.
Long out-of-print, “Wild Times” is now available as an e-book, through Amazon Kindle or NOOK. I’m happy to get reacquainted with Hugh Cardiff — but I don’t suppose I’ll be able to read the covers off.
At 14 or 15, I wanted to be Hugh Cardiff, as depicted by Sam Elliott.
Kayak Jack says
James Fenimore Cooper originated the first character who epitomized the rugged, American individualist, Natty Bumppo. The “Leatherstocking Tales” will easily fufill your itch for adventure, and tell some of where America came from.
Terence Palfrey says
I read this book in 1980 while working as a bricklayer in Augsburg Germany. We could go on the American Army base and that’s where l bought it. It caught my eye because l’m a Welshman from……Cardiff!
JimC says
Perfect.