The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King: A Novel of Teddy Roosevelt and His Times

Written by Jerome Charyn

Narrated by Danny Campbell

Raising the literary bar to a new level, Jerome Charyn re-creates the voice of Theodore Roosevelt, the New York City police commissioner, Rough Rider, and soon-to-be twenty-sixth president through his derring-do adventures, effortlessly combining superhero dialogue with haunting pathos. Beginning with his sickly childhood and concluding with McKinley's assassination, the novel positions Roosevelt as a "perfect bull in a china shop," a fearless crime fighter and pioneering environmentalist who would grow up to be our greatest peacetime president.

With an operatic cast, including "Bamie," his handicapped older sister; Eleanor, his gawky little niece; as well as the devoted Rough Riders, the novel memorably features the lovable mountain lion Josephine, who helped train Roosevelt for his "crowded hour," the charge up San Juan Hill. Lauded by Jonathan Lethem for his "polymorphous imagination and crack comic timing," Charyn has created a classic of historical fiction, confirming his place as "one of the most important writers in American literature" (Michael Chabon).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Mar 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684419005

Jerome Charyn

Jerome Charyn (b. 1937) is the critically acclaimed author of nearly fifty books. Born in the Bronx, he attended Columbia College. After graduating, he took a job as a playground director and wrote in his spare time, producing his first novel, a Lower East Side fairytale called Once Upon a Droshky, in 1964. In 1974, Charyn published Blue Eyes, his first Isaac Sidel mystery. This first in the so-called Sidel quartet introduced the eccentric, near-mythic Sidel, and his bizarre cast of sidekicks. Although he completed the quartet with Secret Isaac (1978), Charyn followed the character through Under the Eye of God. Charyn, who divides his time between New York and Paris, is also accomplished at table tennis, and once ranked amongst France’s top 10 percent of ping-pong players.

Reviews for The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King

[papyri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A delightful book. Teddy Roosevelt is a larger than life figure with a life story that is quite an adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed this fictionalized account of the life of Teddy Roosevelt.

[thomaspluck · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brought Teddy Roosevelt to life in an earnest pulp tale that makes him human and not the larger than life character I knew. Also America, one long mountebank act a Russian Doll of cons....

[letsdeweythis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a wonderful story for both adults and students. Historically accurate and written in a style that kept the attention of both my middle school aged children and my history buff husband. Teddy Roosevelt remains a larger than life figure that inspires and entertains. Admittedly, we were already big TR fans. We listened to it as a family on a long car trip and we highly recommend it.

[ozzer_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Teddy Roosevelt was indeed a heroic figure whose words seem prescient:“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official…It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country… It is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”Charyn succeeds in telling Teddy Roosevelt’s origin story by recreating his voice. This approach gives us the birth of a heroic persona with all of the folksiness and grandiosity one might expect from Teddy. Masquerading as pulp fiction, this entertaining account is filled with the expected humor and boasting, but also contains the doubt and pathos that Roosevelt skillfully hid from view. Charyn wisely realizes that much of the original source material comes from Roosevelt’s own writings. Thus, the parsing of truth and fantasy would be nearly impossible. So why not just tell the story of a superhero in the style of the dime novels that were so popular in Roosevelt’s time? Clearly, the grandiose title and cover art reflect this belief.Despite required settings in North Dakota and Cuba, the heart of this novel is set in Manhattan. Charyn evokes the city through its politics, which were unabashedly corrupt. This provides Teddy with the perfect milieu to display his bona fides as a progressive reformer. Charyn sets this stage for Teddy by developing the character of his father, a man Roosevelt called Brave Heart. BH never failed to encourage his sickly son while also displaying courage and empathy, especially toward the homeless newsboys of the city. The cast of characters is bewilderingly vast, with corrupt pols, prostitutes, journalists, ranchers, soldiers, policemen, etc.. But, in the final analysis, the core of the story becomes Teddy’s family. His first wife, Alice, has a small role because she died young leaving Roosevelt with a daughter, Baby Lee. His second wife, Edith, proves to be the perfect partner for the man. Teddy’s brother Elliott is a burden due to his addictions and philandering, but someone he never fails to love and protect. With all of this aside, the star attraction happens to be a cougar cub by the name of Josephine. Roosevelt adopts this military mascot following the Cuban conflict. Thereafter, he never overcomes his guilt for failing to accommodate her into his lifestyle after the war.The plot dutifully covers the high points in Roosevelt’s life, including his sickly childhood, his education at Harvard, his roles as husband and father, as well as his careers in law enforcement, combat, and politics. However, the tragedy of losing his wife and mother to disease on the same day stands out as a key turning point. Those losses drove him to the Badlands of North Dakota where he discovered his legendary persona as a Western sheriff and tough but honest cowboy. He reveled in this image while still clinging to the trappings of Eastern entitlement. Charyn never lets him off the hook in this regard by describing a cowboy lawman “with silver stirrups, a tailored buckskin suit, and a Bowie knife from Tiffany’s…” or a Rough Rider with a tent from Abercrombie & Fitch.The narrative is loosely episodic but always lively and entertaining. With a subject like Teddy Roosevelt, one would be tempted to be fawning. Instead Charyn gives us a remarkably human narrator.

[eggsnhm · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I tried to listen to this one. I really did try. Unfortunately, but the writing and the reading are horribly flat. I am a history buff and usually love works like this, but this one had no hook, nothing that drew me in.

[andsoitgoes_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting story about Teddy Roosevelt. I especially enjoyed learning about his early years and family life. Unfortunately I did not care for reader of this audiobook so it took me awhile to listen to it.

[readafew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With the title as it was, I wasn't sure what exactly I was getting myself in for. What it turned out to be was a 'diary' of sorts written as if it was by Teddy Roosevelt himself. It was interesting and if the author was reasonably good at his research for this, Teddy was a bit different than I imagined him. It also makes it appear that the only reason he became president was because they thought making him VP would pretty much end his career, and then McKinley had his run in.It was interesting, the reader did a good job, but I don't know...

[nancyadair-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ya-ha-haw!Who can resist that pulp fiction era cover art, reserved for stories about daredevil heroes?Yes--That is Teddy Roosevelt, our 25th president, dressed in his Brooks Brothers uniform, custom-made for his fantasy-come-true chance to play at war on San Juan's hills, his sidekick mascot cougar at his side!I can't think of any other president so deserving of action hero fame, for TR's life was made up of Big Moments that prove that fact truly is stranger than fiction.And Jerome Charyon's The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King takes readers on a thrill ride of TR's early life. Born wealthy, son of a veritable saint nicknamed Great Heart, and brother to a self-destructive sybarite. Became a boy state assemblyman, taking on the corrupt New York party machine. Married for love; lost her and his beloved mother on the SAME DAY. Ran off to the Wild West to work himself into oblivion, facing bad guys and evil Pinkertons. Left little Alice to his sister to raise until, returning home, he reencounters his childhood sweetheart Edith and realizes he has to marry her. Our hero reenters NYC politics, again goes up against corruption, becoming a royal pain so the politicos send him packing to Washington, DC to be Secretary of the Navy. TR pushes for war in Cuba against the Spaniards, cobbles together a ragtag group nicknamed the Rough Riders who become media darlings. Ignored and maligned, after much suffering and victory, the hero of San Juan Hill is made NY State Governor. Again becoming a royal pain, he is pressured to be Garfield's VP where he, like every other VP, except perhaps Al Gore, rots away. And then Garfield is assassinated.That's just the first part of TR's life. You can read any one of several marvelous biographies, many thousands of pages have been written about him. Or...you could... go on a jaunt under Jerome Charyn's capable hands and meet the Cowboy King in his own voice. Or do both. Read the scholarly bios, but don't miss the chance to meet Teddy The Cowboy King. It's a rollicking good ride.I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.