Reviews

Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral by Mary Doria Russell

gimpyknee's review

4.0

100 pages read - no gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

200 pages read - no gunfight at the O.K. Corral

300 pages read - no gunfight at the O.K. Corral

397 pages read - Finally! A gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Page 398 - Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is over. Still another 180 pages of reading until end of book.

"Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral" is quite a misleading title. I'd suggest "Epitaph: A Novel of Wyatt, Virgil, James, Morgan, and Warren Earp, Josephine Marcus, John Henry "Doc" Holiday, Johnny Behan, Allie "Pickle" Sullivan", Mattie Blaylock, Lou Houston, Bessie Earp, Kate Harony, Frank and Tommy McLaury, "Old Man" Clanton and his boys Ike and Billy, Johnny Ringo, and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral."

That said, this is an entertaining read about the Old West and its most famous lawman Wyatt Earp.

johndiconsiglio's review against another edition

3.0

A pop chronicle of the back story & aftermath to the Gunfight at the OK Corral. The shootout lasted just 30 seconds, but inexorably grew into myth & turned Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday into legends. No one will mistake Epitaph for art. It’s more horse opera than history, despite attempts to parallel Tombstone & Troy. Still, it's fun & a quick draw despite the 10-gallon length. Well-researched & colorful, even if Burt Lancaster & Kirk Douglas did it better.

bahfox's review against another edition

4.0

"Who tells the story and why makes all the difference."

jfkaess's review

5.0

5 stars - I am a huge fan of Mary Doria Russell. She doesn't write in just one genre. The first book of hers i read was The Sparrow, which tends to appear as if it is a Sci-Fi book, but it really isn't. It's set in the future and involves travel to another planet, but these things are very incidental to the story which is actually deeply philosophical. I next read her book Doc, about Doc Holliday. It is historically based fiction and deeply researched (as is Epitaph) but more importantly, is a compelling look at a man's life using fiction to fill out the actual events. The latest of her books is Epitaph, and it is kind of a sequel to Doc. It backs up from where Doc ended and fills in by adding the exploits of the Earp Brothers to the story moving toward the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Then she continues the story looking at the lives of the Earps and Doc Holliday and especially Wyatt Earp until the end of their lives. She researched the events deeply, and the facts are true, embellished with enough fiction to flesh things out. If you think you might like an in depth picture of what life was like for the Earps and Doc Holliday and an accurate glimpse of what life was like in the old west, you'll enjoy both Doc and Epitaph. Mary Doria Russell is an excellent writer. I wouldn't hesitate to read anything she has or will write.

kategci's review

4.0

After my book group read Doc by Mary Doria Russell, they immediately wanted the rest of the story. Epitaph continues where Doc left off, continuing the story of the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday. Russell' writing and story telling ability continues to be wonderful and I read this lengthy book in huge chunks. Before starting both volumes, I knew little about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and now I have a much better understanding of the era and the people who lived in the Wild West in the 1880s.

lorettalucia's review

4.0

Both a gripping tale and a study of how legends are manufactured.

4 Stars.

booksandhooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

kerrymc's review against another edition

4.0

This one was great once I got going with it. Excellent writing again by MDR, who really captures the grittiness that was Tombstone, AZ. I did not enjoy it quite as much as "Doc", but that might have been because the main character of Wyatt Earp was not as appealing to me. This book was darker and bleaker than its predecessor. Still would highly recommend for rounding out the historical events that I started reading about in "Doc".

unicornbanzaiiking's review against another edition

4.0

Wow! Russell did a great job of deconstructing the myth of Wyatt Earp while still respecting his legacy and that of his family. A wonderful delivery of such a Herculean task.

Really enjoyed it.

seifknits's review against another edition

5.0

As it happens, I was reading this book at the same time I was listening (over and over) to the "Hamilton" soundtrack. About halfway through the book, I told my husband, "One of Russell's major themes in this book is "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells the Story." Then I got to the last section, which began with a page entitled "Who in Future Will Speak Well of You?," which reads, in its entirety:

"If you want a storybook ending, stop--now--and remember them in that tender moment. Be content to know that they embarked on a series of adventures throughout the West and that they stayed together through thick and think for forty-five years.

"But know this as well: if their story ended here, no one would remember them at all.

Where a tale begins and where it ends matters. Who tells the story, and why . . . That makes all the difference."

So, yes: who lives, who dies, who tells the story?