"Doc", historical fiction by Mary Doria Russell

Westerns have not, for the most part, been part of my reading list since the 5th or 6th grade, quite a few years ago. So how did I end up in Dodge City and Tombstone this past week, entertained and entranced by this well researched but at the end of the day fictional account of the well trod territory of Doc Holliday, the Earp brothers, and Bat Masterson.

Several weeks ago at the end of the weekday PBS News Hour, the fiction editor of Washington Post Book World was interviewed. He detailed his five favorite books of 2011 and "Doc" was one of them. It happened to be sitting on the shelf at the local library and off I went.

The fact that most of the characters in the book actually existed, that the historical timeline and geographic timelines are explicitly honored, and that many of the events that are part of the book were researched thoroughly, gives the book some added credibility beyond just the easy flowing writing and touches of the literate strewn about. There is a humanity to the book that transcends a story of the past, such that there are times that a 2011 sensibility comes through, whatever that is. That's meant to say that there is at times applicability to the present, a nice quality that is representative of good fiction.

Give it a try if you're looking for something different. It didn't hurt me.