quirkly western, almost funny, about two brothers eli and charlie sister who are hitmen in the us 1850s.....great writing, loved it

Kept plugging through this book waiting for it to grab me.......Don't understand the hype! Agree the best part is the cover.

up for Stephen Leacock award 2012

I enjoyed this book very much. Maybe some things weren't historically correct, but the sheer joy and laughter I got from reading this book brought me such pleasure. If you want an interesting read, with endearing yet complicated characters, you will enjoy this. Allow yourself to be entertained and this book will deliver.

I was let down by this book, after reading about the awards lists it made, etc. An imaginative voice, although the subject and plot (murder for hire) are hardly original. The use of local and general anaesthetics struck me as anachronistic. Ether and chloroform were known by 1851, but were hardly widespread and it seems highly unlikely they would have been available on the frontier for amputation. Lidocaine, the first injectable local anaesthetic, was not developed for another 50 years.

Very well written. An enjoyable book, even the harsh portrayal of the West does not sound gory. Also, a fitting, well designed cover. Highly recommended.

I was disappointed in this book. Its about two brothers who kill people for a living. They also kill people for any old reason at all, never having learned how to make their way in the world by doing anything else. The main character tells the story and evokes some sympathy but in the end, it fell flat for me. I kept reading in the hope that something would happen to make me like this book but it didn't.

Surprised that this made the Booker List. Told in the first person, it describes the "work" and travels of a pair of low-life killers and the people they meet (and kill) on their way from Oregon City to the California Gold Fields.

The cover of this book is the best thing going for it!

The central character is such a complex, likable person, it's easy to forget he's a serial killer. There is a lyrical gentleness somewhere inside this novel of violence and cruelty--a tremendous accomplishment on the part of the author. I couldn't put it down.