I'm always looking for good audiobooks. I listen to them while washing dishes, folding laundry, walking the dog, and driving. Bonus points for a story that makes me want to keep doing chores-my productivity goes up as my sociability goes down. Paradise Sky by Lansdale is a pleasure to listen to and honestly, I could just start it over again right now.
It's post-Civil War Texas and young Willie Jackson is in trouble. On his way into town, the black teenager takes a glance at a white woman's clothed bottom and gets caught by her husband. This husband, Ruggert, is not the forgiving type and the incident will change the course of Willie's life. He flees from home and makes a new friend who teaches him important life skills like shooting and horse riding. Eventually, he has to travel on, and at that point he takes the name of Nat Love. Nat becomes a buffalo soldier and fights Apaches. He lives in Deadwood, South Dakota for awhile, where he falls in love and enters a shooting competition, picking up the nickname Deadwood Dick. Ruggert refuses to give up his grudge and follows Nat from place to place, causing him trouble and heartache at every opportunity. In the end, however, Nat Love perseveres.
I've got the book next to me (because it's hard to consult an audiobook for details) and one thing I notice is that the storytelling style lends itself perfectly to the audio format. In the book, some sentences can be long, which makes me wonder when the narrator fit in time to breathe. In any case, listening to Nat tell me the story of his life, "keeping in mind nobody likes the dull parts," brought on laughter and only a couple tears. I will definitely be looking into more of Lansdale's books because Paradise Sky was fantastic.
