The Spirit of Dogie Long by J.P.S. Brown
Pub. by Make A Hand, LLC 2011, 214 pp.
Local author J.P.S. Brown has published 14 books and won two lifetime achievement awards for his true-to-life novels of the Southwest. He has achieved an almost cult status among authors and fans for his gritty stories about cowboys and the hard ranching life. His prose is often compared to Hemingway for its clarity, and he is likened to McMurtry and McCarthy for the realism of his colorful characters. Drawing from a life filled with adventure on both sides of the border (he was born in Nogales), Brown’s novels shine with a love for the land, the hard-won customs, and the codes of “the cowboy way.”
The Spirit of Dogie Long is cast as a memoir, told in the straightforward vernacular of a young orphan boy (hence the name “Dogie”), raised by a crew of taciturn cowboys from the ABC Cattle Company. Found as an infant barely a week old (his parents drowned in a flash flood), Dogie is cared for by men who are stern but always fair, reserved but kindly. He learns the strict rules that govern cowboy life, and, more important, he absorbs the values that separate right from wrong, good from bad. Far beyond his years, he learns to pull his own weight, becoming an excellent horseman and crew member. And, although his nomadic life is short on overt affection, he feels comfortable and safe in the company of his “pards,” and would not dream of any other existence.
But Dogie’s life is split in two when a catastrophic event rips him from his friends and propels him into an entirely new band of folk, the Bravo family. For the first time he is among the company of women as well as men, and during the next months he finds the beliefs and ethics instilled in him by the ABC crew sorely challenged. Life with the Bravos is much more complex, and Dogie’s mettle is continually tested as he picks his way among what is good and bad in the new life he is leading. A series of escalating adventures build up to a final confrontation in which Dogie’s bravery is challenged almost beyond belief. The book closes with a completely unexpected ending, and the spirit of Dogie Long settles into our hearts for a long, long time.
Brown’s novel is a primer on cowboy life, cowboy vocabulary, and cowboy values and superstitions. The first part of the book is about Dogie becoming himself; the second part is about Dogie’s character being challenged and the obstacles he encounters as he tries to survive in difficult surroundings without losing his integrity. As Dogie discovers who he is, we see things through his eyes, feel what he is feeling. His love of animals and the vast, changing landscapes around him are expressed in language that is spare but poetic. Much of the book clearly comes from J.P.S. Brown’s long life as a cowman. That and his vivid imagination have created a heartwarming work that can be enjoyed by all readers, young and old. Highly recommended!
The Spirit of Dogie Long is available from Mariposa Books and from Brown’s website at http://www.jps-brown.com