The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King

Charyn captures Roosevelt's doubts, aspirations and ebullient spirit.... A lively, warts-and-all portrait of an irrepressible man.--Mary Ann Gwinn, Newsday Graced with vivid, vigorous writing.... [Charyn] has written the rousing yarn advertised in his title and dust jacket, and he has written it well.--Gerard Helferich, The Wall Street Journal Undeniably, a marvel.... Charyn's empathetic first-person strategy keeps the tone sprightly positive.--Jean Zimmerman, New York Times Book Review Who wouldn't want to grow old like Jerome Charyn? Now in his 80s, the prolific writer seems ever more daring. Charyn has found a path all his own -- neither a substitute for biography nor a violation of it.... For fans of Roosevelt, this is tremendous fun.... One of the melancholy pleasures of this novel is the contrast it continually presents to our current president. The reviewer's handbook says I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I have to offer some praise for this unusually witty dust jacket. It strikes just the right tone, as does this delightful novel.--Ron Charles, The Washington Post Marked from beginning to end by restlessness and adventure.... A ripping, enjoyable yarn.--Keir Graff, Booklist A rendering of Teddy Roosevelt's early life that spotlights formative moments in colorful, entertaining episodes. Charyn makes artful use of historical fact and fiction's panache to capture the man before he became one of the great U.S. presidents and a face on Mount Rushmore. Jerome Charyn is a one off: no other living American writer crafts novels with his vibrancy of historical imagination. If you think his novels about Dickinson and Lincoln are virtuosic works of art, The Cowboy King will astonish you anew. Here is Teddy Roosevelt as you've never before experienced him, and as you won't soon forget him.--William Giraldi, author of American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring

"One of the most important writers in American literature" (Michael Chabon), Jerome Charyn is the award-winning author of more than fifty works, including The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson. A renowned scholar of twentieth-century Hollywood, he lives in Manhattan.