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"Redeye: A Western"

(Reviewed by Judi Clark MAY 15, 1999)

This is a humorous novel of Quakers, Mormons, Indians, a bounty hunter and his red-eyed dog. The book is styled as a "written guidebook" of the Mesa Largo Tourist Expedition including the complete history of The Eagle City Shootout of 1892. Cleverly the tour we are about to embark takes place in 1905 so it treats the events of 1892 as history.  Yet by telling the story only 13 years later allows a naivete that could not be pulled off if one had to speak in our own "modern day" voice. Maybe it's the old director in me, but as I read the book I envisioned a group of actors on a sparse stage with maybe a wagon wheel and a painted background, dressed in period clothing, taking turns as they each tell pieces of the story of the "actual events." Edgerton's skill is to set up a sentence so that it is entirely truthful to its owner, but when actually read or said aloud, it is hysterical. In this way he jabs at the idiosyncrasy of religion, the mortuary business, dog training and the tourism business.

Despite the humor, Edgerton is covering some serious territory.  In 1857, 120 Tennessee emigrants heading for California were massacred in the the South West corner of Utah. The event became known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Although the Mormons tried to make it look like the Indians were to blame, this massacre was led and executed by the Mormons. Fortunately for the Mormons, this event missed the history books because of the Civil War. It's interesting technique to juxtapose such a startling event with this a light hearted setting. The second story line is nearly as upsetting as we follow the first expedition into the cliff dwellings in the Mesa Largo. The disregard for the artifacts and the desire to profit is not new news, but it sure gives a sense of helplessness as we watch the entrepreneur Blankenship scheme up the first American roadside attraction. Although, some of the scenes really funny.

• Amazon.com reader rating:from 6 reviews

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

• Raney (1985)
• Walking Across Egypt (1987)
• Killer Diller (1991)
• In Memory of Junior (1992)
• The Floatplane Notebooks (1993)
• Redeye- A Western (1995)
• Where Trouble Sleeps (1997)
• Lunch at the Piccadilly (September 2003)

Nonfiction:

• Solo: My Advetures in the Air (September 2005)

Movies from Books:

• Walking Across Egypt (1999)
• Killer Diller (2006)

Theater from Books:

• The Floatplane Notebooks
• Lunch at the Piccadilly

 

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Book Marks:

• Official website for Clyde Edgerton
• Columbia Magazine Online review of Where Trouble Sleeps
• The New York Times Select article on the Mountain Meadows Massacre
• The 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre
• Mountain Meadows Association

 

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About the Author:

Clyde Edgerton was born in Bethesda, North Carolina, a small community in east Durham County in 1944. He served as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and later attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning an English education degree. The plot of Raney, revolving around the marriage of a Free Will Baptist and an Episcopalian, led to Edgerton's leaving the teaching staff at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina (a Baptist institution).  He later taught at St. Andrew's College in Laruinburg, North Carolina. Also a musician, Edgerton, with his wife Susan Ketchin,  is a founding member of the The Tarwater Band.