Deadwood much like the television show produce in later years is about the wild west from a true and fiction standpoint. The idea behind writing a story with real and fake characters intrigued me. Written by Pete Dexter; Deadwood is a fun, easy to read story about the death of Wild Bill Hickok and the survival of his friends.  Much like the television show Deadwood attempts to embrace the true nature of the lonely dangerous town. Mr. Dexter tries to delve in the psyche of the common miner and western sheriffs, but doesn’t quite get there.  Unfortunately his characters come off as a bit bland and I had a difficult time caring about most of them. Besides a real lack of depth and meaning behind the story my real problem with Deadwood is the character Malcolm Nash. Being a fictional character among nonfictional characters would make you think he would have a significant role to play in the story. Yet he disappears for about 100 pages directly in the middle of the tale. Malcolm really seems to have no meaning or value.

For all the accolades Deadwood received from critics, I really expected far better work. Sadly Mr. Dexter fails to come through. Although I pretty much just ripped into the book it is readable and at time enjoyable. If you like westerns or Pete Dexter I would tell you to read it, if not leave this book at the bookstore. 

To say F. Scott Fitzgerald’s’  “This Side of Paradise” is an old book would be an understatement. Fortunately age had no bearing in my decision to read it. “Paradise” is Fitzgerald’s first novel, most everyone is aware of “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald most famous writting, because we all read it in high school. At least I did.

“Paradise” is a coming of age story, about a young man in the so called Jazz Age (1910-1920’s). There are many obvious reasons to like the story. Like most of us in our mid- twenties or early thirties, the protagonist has many thoughts of grandeur, but no real ideas on how to execute them. He moves from place to place and woman to woman, always feeling like this may finally be the place for him.

 This is a well written novel with elegant dialogue and believable descriptions of the world. Some of the characters come off as pathetic while others are self-absorbed, but you always just believe that’s the way life and people were. It is true that most of the people alive when this story was wrote are now consequently dead, but that doesn’t take away from its meaning or point. While I don’t agree with all conclusions the protagonist comes up with, I can see the thought process. All in all it was a good book worth reading and I would give it four out of five stars.