Originally published in 1996, The Englishman’s Boy is the first in a Guy Vanderhaeghe trilogy that includes the nationally best-selling novel The Last Crossing, with the third book due to be published next year. By far his most successful book in his native Canada, The Englishman’s Boy expertly depicts an American West where greed and deception act side by side with honor and strength. In 1920s Hollywood, elusive movie studio owner Damon Ira Chance is obsessed with making pictures rooted in American history and experience, with the poetry of fact. So when he discovers that one of the most popular bit players in the Westerns is a real-life tin god—the last buffalo of the old West, Shorty McAdoo—he commissions an ambitious young screenwriter named Harry Vincent to hunt Shorty down and retell his story. Richly textured and evocative, this is an unforgettable story about power, greed, and the pull of dreams. At once an intensely original character study and a hugely entertaining page-turner, The Englishman’s Boy is a gritty, resonant novel of timeless beauty and insight.
From the national bestselling author of The Last Crossing, a story that's "by turns a western, a critique of Hollywood, and a novel of ideas" (The New York Times Book Review).
In 1920s Hollywood, elusive producer Damon Ira Chance is obsessed with making movies rooted in American history and experience. So after discovering that small-time actor Shorty McAdoo is a real-life cowboy—and is even rumored to have played a role in the Cypress Hills Massacre—Chance commissions ambitious young screenwriter Harry Vincent to find Shorty and retell his story.
But as Harry digs deeper into Shorty's life, he uncovers a surprising tale of survival, power, greed, and the seduction of dreams . . . all with an ending that no one is prepared for.
"A wonderful writer . . . The Englishman's Boy is a great accomplishment."—Richard Ford
"An epic tale that brings together the American West before the turn of the century with the Hollywood of the 1920s."—Los Angeles Times
"Fascinating . . . Vanderhaeghe seamlessly alternates two interconnected stories. . . . Masterful storytelling."—Entertainment Weekly
"A compelling yarn that delivers provocative intellectual content about the ways our tendency to mythologize history can prevent us from learning its lessons."—San Francisco Chronicle
