The Pumpkin Rollers

by Elmer Kelton

Book Overview

In the cattle drives of the Old West, pumpkin rollers were green farmboys, almost more trouble than they were worth. When Trey McLean leaves his family's East Texas cotton farm and sets off on his own... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812543998
• ISBN13: 9780812543995
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.1" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Texas Tradition

Trey McLean leaves home according to family tradition which says only the oldest son could remain at home. So, he leaves the East Texas cotton farm to become a trail driver of cattle to Kansas. He has much to learn and must learn if he expects to survive this new life he has chosen or has been thrust upon him. Hense a pumpkin roller, a green horn, a farm boy, thought to be more trouble than they are worth having around. And as with any Elmer Kelton book there are characters who are characters we have met somewhere in our own lives. I heartily endorse this book.

One of Kelton’s best

I love Elmer Kelton’s books. He could certainly weave a great tale. This one was especially entertaining. The story was largely set in an area where I once managed a rather large ranch and it brought back many memories of the country, if not the times. Elmer Kelton was always accurate both historically and geographically. His polished style was seldom better than in The Pumpkin Rollers. A classic story told through a cowboy’s eyes. Better than any of his contemporaries, with all due respect to so many excellent western writers, Elmer wrote a great one with The Pumpkin Rollers.

My favorite so far

Of the Kelton books I've read (7 so far) this is my current favorite. It is a real page turner. Good story with interesting characters as in every Kelton book I've read. I can't wait to start another.

One of the best westerns ever written.

This is one of the best westerns that I have ever read. The characters come alive and this author definitely is a studious expert in knowing human nature.Trey and Sarah McLean are wonderful characters, as well as all of the others who are in this story.Elmer Kelton fleshes them all out and there are no real minor characters. That, I believe, is where a lot of his true talent lies.

The Pumpkin Rollers

The Pumpkin Roller's is an excellent book for anyone who enjoys hearing stories of the good old days. Any one who likes the thought of striking it new in a new area or cattle driving will enjoy this book. This book was so wonderful that I read it twice in the same week and still felt the need to read more of it. Anyone who picks it up will love it and should enjoy it for a long long time.

Where did the three star rating come from?

I agree with everything the first two reviewers said, but I have no idea where the first guy got that three star rating. I'd hate to try to please him! The Pumpkin Rollers was a great book, as every Kelton book has been from the very beginning. There is only one rival to Kelton, and that is Kirby Jonas, whom critics call The New Louis L'Amour. If you haven't read any of his stuff, you're missing out the same way I was before I read Kelton. Kirby Jonas and Elmer Kelton rule the world of the western, without a doubt!

A "Pilgrim's Progress" set in the Great Plains

Trey McLean, an innocent and adventurous young man, takes leave of his farming family in East Texas to seek his fortune among the cattle ranches and drives of still wild West Texas. After being cheated out of all his money, Trey quickly finds trust and honesty to be qualities lacking in too many of the people he meets. Encounters with a fanatical lawman, ruthless cattle barons, and common thieves only strengthen his determination to succeed. But, as in any good Western, there are the good guys, too. With their help, the skills he has he improves, and those he needs he goes after with both muscle and brain. Along the way, his path brings him to the home of the Starks and their daughter Sarah. He falls in love with her, but must leave her behind too soon when he hires on for his first cattle drive up to the railheads in Kansas. His growing love and the hope of returning to find Sarah waiting for him help Trey survive the daily trials of the trail. In Trey McLean, Kelton has created the Everyman of the early west, a common hero whose blunders and triumphs rein us in and would make us proud to ride in the saddle next to him.