The Brave Cowboy

Infobox Book |
name = The Brave Cowboy
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Dodd, Mead & Company first edition cover
author = Edward Abbey
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Western novel
publisher = Dodd, Mead and Company
release_date = 1956
media_type = Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
pages = 277 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-8263-0448-6
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Brave Cowboy" (1956) was Edward Abbey's second published novel, as detailed in [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0816522677 James M. Cahalan's biography of Abbey] . The first-edition of the book is considered the rarest of Abbey's eight novels. There was only one printing of 5,000 copies and many of them have not survived. One online rare book dealer shows copies of the first U.S. edition start at $4,000 and the highest asking price is $10,000.

In 1993 Dream Garden Press produced a special limited edition of the book that includes an introduction by Kirk Douglas, who was the star in the film made about the book. It also includes photos from the film. Douglas signed 500 copies of that special edition.

Plot summary

Many casual fans of Abbey might consider George Washington Hayduke as the author's favorite character, but it was John W. "Jack" Burns who Abbey kept writing about. Burns is introduced for the first time in The Brave Cowboy. He is also a major character in Abbey's science fiction novel, "Good News". Burns makes cameo appearances in both "The Monkey Wrench Gang" and "Hayduke Lives".

This book is the story of a cowboy (Burns), who lives as a transient worker and roaming ranch hand much as the cowboys of old did, and refuses to join modern society. He rejects much of modern technology, prefers to cut down any fence he comes across, will not carry any kind of modern identification such as a driver's license or Social Security card, and refuses to register for the draft. When a friend of his, who is a philosophical anarchist, is jailed, Burns deliberately gets himself arrested in an attempt to break his friend out of jail, but winds up on the run from the law himself.

His friend, Paul Bondi, refuses Burns offer to escape. Because he had to punch a law officer to get thrown into jail, Burns faces serious time if he remains. So, without his friend, he breaks out of jail. After a brief stop to say goodbye to Paul's wife (Jerry) and son (Seth), Jack heads for the nearest mountains on horseback.

The police mount a manhunt and pull out all the stops to capture Burns, including helicopters on loan by the Air Force. If Burns can scale the mountain range, he figures he can escape under the cover of the forest on the other side. The police know this as well, so they position themselves to prevent that from happening.

Film version

Kirk Douglas called the film version of "The Brave Cowboy", Lonely Are the Brave, his personal favorite. It was released in 1962 and is one of only two films made based on Abbey's novels. (The second was "Fire on the Mountain", which was a made for TV film that starred Ron Howard and Buddy Ebsen). A third film based on Abbey's most popular novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang, is currently in production and expected to be released in 2008. Catherine Hardwicke is scheduled to direct the film.