A myth-busting novel about America's most infamous and beloved outlaw, Billy the Kid, from a critically acclaimed historical novelist According to legend, Billy the Kid killed twenty-one men, one for every year of his short life; stole from wealthy cattle barons to give to the poor; and wooed just about every senorita in the American Southwest. In Lucky Billy, John Vernon digs deeply into the historical record to find a truth more remarkable than the legend, and draws a fresh, nuanced portrait of this outlaw's dramatic and violent life. Billy the Kid met his celebrated end at the hands of Pat Garrett, his one-time carousing partner turned sheriff, who tracked Billy down after the jail break that made him famous. In Vernon's telling, the crucial event of Billy's life was the Lincoln County War, a conflict between a ring of Irishmen in control of Lincoln, New Mexico, and a newcomer from England, John Tunstall, who wanted to break their grip on the town. Billy signed on with Tunstall. The conflict spun out of control with Tunstall's murder, and in a series of revenge killings, an obscure hired gunman called Kid Antrim became Billy the Kid. Besides a full complement of gunfights, jail breaks, and bawdy behavior, Lucky Billy is a provocative picture of the West at a critical juncture between old and new. It is also a portrait of an American icon made human, caught in the middle, more lost than brave, more nadve than principled, more of an accidental survivor than simply the cold-blooded killer of American myth.

ジョン・ヴァーノンが描く本作は、伝説の虚飾を剥ぎ取り、無法者ビリー・ザ・キッドの生身の苦悩を晒した野心作です。冷酷な殺人者ではなく、歴史の歯車に翻弄され、孤独を抱えた青年の姿は、これまでの西部劇にはない切実な痛みを伴います。緻密な筆致が、砂塵舞うニューメキシコの情景を残酷なまでに美しく再現しています。 リンカーン郡戦争という権力闘争の中で、若者が「キッド」という象徴へ変貌する過程は見事です。彼は英雄ではなく、時代の裂け目に落ちた生存者に過ぎません。神話が人間へと解体される瞬間のカタルシス。アメリカの原罪と喪失を一人の生涯を通して抉り出す、極上の歴史文学をぜひ体感してください。