Lose yourself in order to find yourself | The Last Cowboys at the End of the World: The Story of the...

A Great Read!!! | The Last Cowboys at the End of the World: The Story of the Gauchos of Patagonia | Nick Reding

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	• The Last Cowboys at the End of the World: The Story of the Gauchos of Patagonia Nick Reding Three Rivers Press, 2002 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Fascinating Person and a Fascinating Story

I had the pleasure of meeting Nick Reding earlier this year, and as I chatted with him over some drinks, I was really struck by the thought, "This guy has led a really amazing life!" As a result, I went out and grabbed this book and as I read it, I became even more amazed.

Nick tells the story of his experiences in the Chilean Patagonia in a way that draw you in to every moment. The vividness of his writing and the beauty of some of his comparisons made this quite an enjoyable read. His attention to detail leaves the reader with a feeling that they are right there staring over Nick's shoulder as he goes about life in a very different part of the world.

Nick has that knack that some of the best writers have of being able to see the common thread that exists between very different experiences and places. This book is also extremely well researched with a lot of attention to historical detail, but this detail is not integrated in a dry textbook like manner. Instead when Nick feels it is neccessary to illuminate the reader about a particular piece of history to provide context for an event, he explains that history without distracting from the main storyline.

Overall, this is an excellent piece of writing and I look forward to future books by Nick (he assures me at least one more is on the way).

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Lose yourself in order to find yourself

This is an exceptional study of the Patagonian gauchos and their life style and habitat before it is extinguished forever by western values, money and culture. As a tourist in Patagonia it should be required reading, especially if you are attempting a riding trip there as we were, across the Andes. For a moment you can understand what you are seeing and experiencing, for a second you are part of the scenary, not just watching it voyeuristically unfold before you. I don't think I understood travel until I read this book.I will never travel again with my eyes open and my mind closed.

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A Great Read!!!

If you have been to Cisnes,Patagonia (or want to go there) this is a must book to read. I spent 10 days in this area in February, 2002 and saw some of the people that Nick writes about. In reading the book Nick made me feel that I was back there as I could visualize where the events were taking place. The changes to Coyhaique have continued since 1999 as I found it to be a very modern town. After reading this book I would like to make a return trip.

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A book you won't forget

If you cherish the ways in which John McPhee and Barry Lopez make meaning out of landscape, if you appreciate a writer with an observant heart and a feel for language, and if you wonder how people manage to live--for well and for ill--in a world turned inside out, this is the book for you. By turns harrowing, hilarious, and touching, "The Last Cowboys" will command your attention and remain in your thoughts long after you have read the last page.

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?You will never go there, probably, but after reading this intelligent, tough account, you will have been. Reding writes brilliantly.? ?James Salter

?Reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy?s Border Trilogy . . . a fastidiously humanist angle, in which the interloping narrator never forgets humility or sensitivity.? ?Publishers Weekly (starred review)

?The Last Cowboys marks the debut of a strong new voice.? ?Outside

?The lives of these real cowboys riding the last free range are both fascinating and frightening. This is compulsive reading by a gifted storyteller.? ?Tim Cahill

The Last Cowboys at the End of the World is the remarkable account of Nick Reding?s ten- month journey throughout Middle Cisnes, Patagonia, and his witnessing of what happens when time catches up to a people whom history has forgotten.

In 1995 Reding traveled a still-unfinished road in Chilean Patagonia into an unmapped river valley, and it was there he found himself in a closed chapter of history: a last undetected and unexplored outpost of gauchos. He later returned in 1998 to live among this supposedly vanished culture.

The end result is an honest, unwavering telling of an unforgettable cast of semi-nomadic characters. From Duck, the alcoholic with whom Reding lives and takes long cattle drives, to Edith, Duck?s wife, who is convinced she is reliving the life of her estranged mother, who was, according to legend, wed to the Devil, Reding details an ever-changing world conspiring against them. Ultimately, Reding has captured a moment in time that we have never before seen and will never see again.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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