A lyrical view of the old west of the cattle drive days, and of the life of Monte Walsh, a good man on a horse. Monte is both a good man, and as good as anyone can be at breaking and riding horses and wants little more than to do whatever work can be done from horseback, preferably with his good friend Chet who enjoys the excitement Monte's streak of inventive mischief delivers to life and takes care of Monte through the consequences. But the west ages, as do Chet and Monte and Chet finds something more to life with which Monte can't find a fit. And though we only hear of it from his final neighbors he does eventually find a community where his qualities are appreciated. Episodically told, we are never really in Monte's head and sometime only know by it's inclusion at the end of a chapter that the tale of cowboy antics is about him. ( )

I loved this book. It took me quite a long time to finish it, but I wasn't in any hurry. Each time I opened it up I was so looking forward to another adventure, another character, another story and I was never disappointed. Jack Schaeffer drew me in each time and carried me out West to where the cowboys were. I laughed and I cried and I got angry and I got happy. I fell in love with the flawed Slash Y characters. I couldn't wait for the next reading, but I didn't want the book to end. This book is a masterpiece. ( )

Monte Walsh has never met a horse he couldn’t ride, and Chet Rollins has never met one he couldn’t rope. For a decade they are unbeatable and inseparable, working as trail hands throughout the West until finally settling with Cal Brennan’s Slash Y. Their rough cowboy ethics see them through every imaginable challenge: blizzards, rustlers, outlaws, and card games gone wrong. Partial to pretty women, gambling, and practical jokes, Monte is often on the receiving end of trouble, while Chet is always there to break him out of jail or serve as a decoy until Monte can get out of town in a hurry.
As the West begins to change, however—the automobile replacing the horse, the herds breaking up—the two friends part ways. Chet marries and goes on to become a successful merchant, banker, and politician; but Monte, unable to imagine anything but the cowboy’s way of life, refuses to the end to leave the range.

I have a weakness for Westerns and this is the best I've ever read - brilliant characterisation - you can almost taste the smoke in the wildfire scene. ( )

Best Western story ever, though some might prefer Shane as it is shorter.

The characters seem real, as does the action. A great read. ( )