Overview
When Lavender was growing up in Colorado in the 1930s, something unique in the nation's experience was ending. Great ranches were breaking up, miners were forced onto the dole, a whole way of life came grinding to a halt. Though few of us knew it, pioneers were passing into history."His story is realistic and readable...he puts on record some of the most engaging characters in the modern literature of the West." (The New York Times)
Editorials
Book Week
"Believe me, David Lavender can write. He can make you laugh; he can make people come alive in print."—Book WeekNew York Times
"His story is realistic and readable. . . . Nor does he spread any gloss on the hardships. He does, however, put on record some of the most engaging characters in the modern literature of the West. He makes it understandable why he says that, after damning the country mightily, one comes to an absurd affection for the particular part of it he has most reason to hat."—New York TimesColorado Central Magazine
"One Man’s West is a silver knife that slices through time. We should be grateful David Lavender had the acumen to record his memories of that time and to Bison Books for keeping them in print."—Colorado Central MagazineDavid Lavender
"The country in which I grew up—the rugged areas of southwestern Colorado—was changing rapidly in the 1930s. I sensed that something unique in the nation’s experience was ending, and I tried to capture a segment of the passing on paper—the breakup of the great cattle ranches and mines and the last efforts of the old-timers to hang on in the face of declining profits and increasing mechanization they themselves could not afford."—David LavenderBook Week
"Believe me, David Lavender can write. He can make you laugh; he can make people come alive in print."—Book Week
New York Times
"His story is realistic and readable. . . . Nor does he spread any gloss on the hardships. He does, however, put on record some of the most engaging characters in the modern literature of the West. He makes it understandable why he says that, after damning the country mightily, one comes to an absurd affection for the particular part of it he has most reason to hat."—New York Times
Colorado Central Magazine
"One Man’s West is a silver knife that slices through time. We should be grateful David Lavender had the acumen to record his memories of that time and to Bison Books for keeping them in print."—Colorado Central Magazine
Journal of Arizona History
“A true classic. . . This is a book worth reading. It is also worth revisiting, if you have already ‘been there.’ This edition is enhanced by an introduction by David G. Lavender, the author’s son, and an afterword by David W. Lavender, his grandson.”—Journal of Arizona History