Doc: A Novel

What a fantastic book! Mary Doria Russell is my favorite author--and she did not disappoint me in this book. I don't usually read westerns, but this book gripped my attention and kept me turning the pages. This story of "Doc" John Holliday is not at all what I expected. This book covers only the period of time when Holliday lived in Dodge City. In this book, Holliday was a kind-hearted, generous Southern gentleman, with an amazingly liberal attitude toward life. Even though the book contains an afterword that tries to elucidate which parts of the story are true, it is difficult to tell the difference between the myth and the true man.

I don't think I've ever actually read a Western, so I can't say for sure if this book qualifies as belonging to that genre, or if it's just plain old historical fiction. Whatever it is, it's another example of Mary Doria Russell's mastery of her craft. We already know that Russell writes great historical fiction and science fiction, but here she has chosen yet another period and setting vastly different from what she's given her readers before, and again with the meticulous research that her fans will by now take for granted.

If this book has a flaw, it's that it can be a little jumpy. We are occasionally yanked back in time for some backstory, which always helps flesh out a character or plot point, but some way of distinguishing these short flashbacks from the rest of the narrative would have made the transition less jarring. This small flaw is easily overlooked, though, as it doesn't take more than a sentence or two to adjust to the new setting.

And it's well worth overlooking. Historical figures that many of us have heard of but probably don't know much about beyond the legend will come to life through Russell's writing. Those who are more familiar with these figures will appreciate the research that Russell has done to go beyond that legend. Everyone will enjoy a good story well told.