There is something about cow camp, and it's limited technological resources, that gets me reading more. It was more than our time out here that finished this book in less than a week though. The stories of Ed Ashurst's time spent on the Diamond A Ranch in the 1970s and later, the 1990s, as a wagon boss, are captivating!

The horse wrecks, personnel interactions, and just ranch drama are real, you can't make this stuff up! Here are a few things I learned from the book:

- that etiquette is etiquette, no matter where you go.

- the stories of good and bad bosses, owners and managers are universal. - new-to-me cowboy sayings.

- the kind of ranch wife I DON'T want to be.

- and I would be out-worked and out-roped by an 11 year old.

If you need another reason to pick this gem up on Amazon, it was given to us by Sam's dad, author of "Last Buckaroo" and "Shadow of the Wind." That's basically a recommendation, right? If you loved either of those books though, this one will be right up your ally! The only difference is Ed keeps his in short story format and he did not change the names to protect the innocent.