The Smiling Country

by Elmer Kelton

Book Overview

Twenty years ago, in The Good Old Boys, Elmer Kelton introduced one of the most beloved characters in Western fiction, the Texas cowboy Hewey Calloway. Hewey returns in The Smiling Country. It is now 1910 and his freewheeling life is coming to an end--the fences, trucks, and automobiles he hates are creeping in even to remote Alpine, in the "smiling country" of West Texas. When he is badly injured trying to break a renegade horse, he thinks for the...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812540190
• ISBN13: 9780812540192
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.3" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Hewey Calloway Returns

In this a sequel to The Good Old Boys Hewey Calloway returns 20 years later still the ever present figure he was then. With this exception: He has a nephew to take care of. A nephew who want to be a "cowboy". A cowboy just like his uncle was. Yet responsibility is not one of Hewey's best traits and finds it difficult to adjust to this situation. This is an excellent follow-up to The Good Old Boys and makes a good read. What I call a typical Elmer Kelton book. A book any one would enjoy reading

The Best Western I have ever read.

Like "The Pumpkin Rollers", this is probably the best western I have ever read. It is also a contender for the best book ever read. Hewey Calloway and Spring Renfro are the greatest. What a powerful ending! Also, the other characters that are great are Peeler, Skip Harness, who dies when he is gored by a bull (very sad), Walter and Eve, Tommy, Cotton, Fat, and the list goes on. This is a wonderful book!

The Changes in Western Society

This western story is from the point-of-view of a veteran cowboy, Hewey Calloway. It is not exactly the story of his but more the story of the changes that occured during his life. A big one was the advent of the automobile, it greatly decreased the use of horses. Society changed during his life also, more people got involved with industry. It is disturbing to Hewey thinking about cowboy's becoming extict. But Hewey Calloway keeps the tradition alive. Hewey continues to learn more about life and learns to live with regret of decisons that he made earlier in his life.

Another winner from EK

Mr. Kelton is from, and writes about, my hometown of San Angelo, Texas. He has a talent for seeing the past in vivid detail (I don't think he's a contemporary of Hewey), an understanding of Native Americans equal to Larry McMurtry's, an eye for modern life in West Texas, and a fine sense of humor (characters like Snort Yarnell). Good work, Elmer; hope to see you in the coffee shop of the Cactus Hotel someday!

Excellent Follow up to Good Ol' Boys

I just had the sad occasion to finish The Smilin' Country. I wish there were more pages. I liked the chance to catch up with my old friend Hewey Calloway. It's four years later and Hewey is still learnin'about life. Always but not completely regretting his split from Spring Renfro, Hewey just cannot seem to make the tansition from a 20 yr old cowboy to 50 year old cowboy. The spirit is willin' but the ol' body doesn't work quite as well as before. I highly recommend any of Kelton's books, but this is even better than The Pumpkin Rollers, which I also enjoyed a great deal. With the passing of Louis L'Amour, westerns just don't get much better'n Kelton's.

A decade of progress in the 4 years since Hewey left Spring.

A sequel to Kelton's book "The Good Old Boys,""The Smiling Country" stars that good ol' boy Hewey Callowayin a struggle between the old and the new--in terms of technology, way of life, social relationships, and (most of all) Hewey's relationship with Spring Renfro, the woman he left to continue his footloose and fancy-free ways. Can he continue as a lone drifter/cowboy or will he settle down? Kelton's writing continues to improve as he develops characters and their struggles.