Mary Doria Russell, the bestselling, award-winning author of The Sparrow, returns with Epitaph. An American Iliad, this richly detailed and meticulously researched historical novel continues the story she began in Doc, following Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday to Tombstone, Arizona, and to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.A deeply divided nation. Vicious politics. A shamelessly partisan media. A … politics. A shamelessly partisan media. A president loathed by half the populace. Smuggling and gang warfare along the Mexican border. Armed citizens willing to stand their ground and take law into their own hands. . . .
That was America in 1881.
All those forces came to bear on the afternoon of October 26 when Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers faced off against the Clantons and the McLaurys in Tombstone, Arizona. It should have been a simple misdemeanor arrest. Thirty seconds and thirty bullets later, three officers were wounded and three citizens lay dead in the dirt.
Wyatt Earp was the last man standing, the only one unscathed. The lies began before the smoke cleared, but the gunfight at the O.K. Corral would soon become central to American beliefs about the Old West.
Epitaph tells Wyatt’s real story, unearthing the Homeric tragedy buried under 130 years of mythology, misrepresentation, and sheer indifference to fact. Epic and intimate, this novel gives voice to the real men and women whose lives were changed forever by those fatal thirty seconds in Tombstone. At its heart is the woman behind the myth: Josephine Sarah Marcus, who loved Wyatt Earp for forty-nine years and who carefully chipped away at the truth until she had crafted the heroic legend that would become the epitaph her husband deserved.
more
Great story of the Earps, Doc Holliday and the events and culture that lead to the OK Corral. Her writing is clear and unique and the characters come to life. If you like Ron Hansen, HBO’s Deadwood, or the movie Tombstone, or just any great story, this book is for you.
This book was a wonderful read! It gave the backstory on Wyatt Eurp and his brothers, and also the “bad guys”. It was extremely informative about life in the old west.I would definitely be recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the truth instead of the Hollywood version.
Great to read about the people other than Doc Holiday and the Earps who were involved with the famous gunfight in Tombstone. If you like Westerns and history this is the book for you.
This was a terrific read! I had read “Doc” first, so got “Epitaph” to “finish” the story. Epitaph corrects many misconceptions about what really happened at the OK Corral. Turns out Bat Masterson made up a lot of lies about the Earps, Doc Holliday, and many others involved in the gunfight.
I couldn’t put this book down! The author did a …
This splendid sequel to “Doc” is a worthy continuation of the tale of the characters first met in “Doc”, the Earps and Doc Holliday. Set in the harsh political and physical landscape of the Arizona Territory in the early 1880’s, Epitaph deftly describes the complicated events, and the even more complicated people involved, leading up to that …
Loved it. Another unputdownable. It’s funny you know the ending but still a great read.
This book explores the mythical structure of the tales of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the OK Corral gunfight. It is informative, iconoclastic, and refreshingly free of hagiography. You will understand the real story of these people and times when you finish this impeccably researched book.
Exceptionally well written and with a fantastic flow, makes history come alive.
Mary Doria Russell is one of our great writers. I hope to read every word she has written.
Well researched, detailed, and brings reader into the times, actions and consequences of the real life characters in a brief moment of historical time little understood then and now. Great read.
This book brings to light the true personalities from the Tombstone saga. I live in the area of San Bernardino County steeped in Earp history and mystic. It’s very enlightening.
LOVED THE PLOT
The author truly appears to do her best to ensure her works of historical fiction are accurate. I feel like I’ve learned as much or even more by having read Doc and this work compared to dry, sometimes speculative biographies. She doesn’t celebrate the acts of violence that occur. Instead she uses them to shape the characters and their actions. …
Ms. Russell brings this alive and helps to see all the different issues happening at the time of this infamous incident. It was a great story. I love learning all the aspects of the book as well as the life lived by Wyatt Earp and Josie after Tombstone.
If you like Tombstone, you’ll love this book.
I am a history buff and love most historical books. Some of them tend to get a little boring but this book weaves an actual story in the telling of the fight at the OK Corral. I have read several books on this event but this is by far the best one I have read. Lots of it is surmised by her as no one can actually know what thoughts passed through …
Informational but slow
Fun to read and learn more about characters that I’ve always known.
I grew up in Dodge City and many of the characters were extremely familiar to me. I’m a lifelong western book and movie fan and this more than satisfied my tastes.
One of the best Westerns and one of the best novels ever written. A compelling account of the events leading up to and following the famous Gunfight at the OK Corrall. You’ll like this even if you don’t like Westerns. It’s fiction, but it’s also deeply researched. I enjoyed it tremendously.