Title: The Perilous Adventures of The Cowboy King: A Novel of Teddie Roosevelt and His Times
Author: Jerome Charyn
Publication Date: 8th January 2019
Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Brave Heart, Teddie’s father, plays a very important role in Teddie’s life. From long midnight rounds in the carriage to fighting the bad guys to playing the role of a loving and caring father – Brave Heart had influenced young Teddie’s life a lot.
When Brave Heart was out, fighting, sister Bamie took charge of the Roosevelt House. From managing her delirious mother – Mittie, to a servant who did not want to take orders from an eleven-year-old, Bamie’s hold on Roosevelt household and Teddie’s life was firm and mother-like.
Alice Lee and Teddie’s love story was heart-warming but short-lived. After Alice’s death, Teddie was no longer the man who he previously was. Instead of looking after his daughter – Alice, he went away to The Badlands, leaving Bamie to look after Alice. Bamie was like a second mother to Alice and their bond was inseparable. When Teddie married Edith, Alice moved in with them. Edith treated Alice like her own.
When Teddie’s brother – Elliot, had problems of his own, Teddie stood up to him. Anna, Elliot’s wife, died two years before Elliot and he was heart-broken. The separation from Eleanor when he was being treated in Switzerland was too much for Elliot to bear. Eleanor’s role in the Roosevelt house was heart-warming yet sad. The girl was almost always dressed in hand-me-downs until Nan pointed out that Teddie can do better than giving the little girl hand-me-downs.
As the story proceeds further, there are many more adventures of the Cowboy king. From joining politics to attending courts to keeping a mountain lion (Josephine) as a pet, the book gets even more interesting. Young Teddie’s love for Taxidermy and his time at Harvard and Teddie joining the Morton Hall – these are some of the charming moments of his life. The book ends with Teddie being asked to come over immediately from his camping trip. The president is dead and the vice president has to take over his place.
Jerome Charyn’s writing is absolutely brilliant. The Perilous Adventures of The Cowboy King is a must read for all those who love a good blend of History with Literature.
EXCERPT
The chairman of the club, a loathsome little rascal named Ashbel Grief, quieted the assembly with a patrolman’s cylinder-shaped whistle. The sound racked my ears, but it did its own shrill work.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have with us today a man who has always been knee-deep in controversy. Theodore Roosevelt, son of the late philanthropist and banker who did so much to help the disadvantaged, who was known as Brave Heart, and who built hospitals and lodging houses. There isn’t a newsboy among us, past or present, who doesn’t owe a debt of gratitude to Brave Heart. But Theodore Jr. is our Police Commissioner rather than a philanthropist. He comes to us from the Civil Service, where he slept for six years. But now we have him on our doorstep. And what a blunder it has been. he’s denied workingmen their Sunday ambrosia, banished some of our very best Irish captains to ‘Goatsville,’ all the way in the Bronx, and ripped the gold bars off the sleeves of others. he was a sheriff in the Badlands, some say, captured vicious men. But does Manhattan desire a cowboy king? Is he not our tin czar, as Mr. Pulitzer says, the man who dictates terms at Police Headquarters?… Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, please welcome Commissioner Roosevelt, the cowboy king.”
Thank you, Rachel Gul from OverTheRiverPR and Jerome Charyn, for giving me an opportunity to be a part of this blog tour. Thank you, Edelweiss+, for the ARC.
Have a look at the other stops on this blog tour here.
The Book Decoder 
is this like a comic book?
Gosh, no! It’s creative non-fiction.🙂
I do know teddy! i just assumed from the cover🙈
Haha, I thought so. The cover does look a bit like that of a comic book.🙂 The mountain lion on the cover was Teddy’s pet. 😀
aah now that i didn’t know. but great review and also not my cup of tea..😁
🙂 I usually like to try all genres (except romance and erotica 😉). What about you?
haha am a sucker for thriller/mystery/suspense, fantasy and now scifi & espionage but just starting. auto/Biographies are okay. used to love romance/erotica still do but don’t read them as the former has me hooked. as long as the book keeps me glued to it i will read it. but really am a picky reader i guess.
I don’t understand fantasy either. I don’t know how I liked Harry Potter series as a teenager but now, I can’t read any fantasy fiction. Neither can I re-read the Potter series. 🙈😀
I know what you mean. When I reread hp after like years I felt the characters and dialogues are childish but it’s just initially cause I can’t imagine not liking my childhood favourites. Its too nostalgic 😄 fantasy definitely takes some time to get into the world.
Haha, I was scared to say that I found it kiddish when I re-read. I don’t want to be banished by book lovers for saying that I don’t like HP anymore 😂😂 I tried watching the movie again, thinking that maybe that might get me to read the book again but nope. 😀
The movies are worse with amateur actors. But the magic they captured is still awesome and it was amazing to see the characters come alive but it was bad scripting. Perhaps that’s why only the 3rd movie was good. And yeah it’s probably sacrilege to say you aren’t a fan 😂
This is such an interesting series of comments, especially for me as the partner of author Jerome Charyn. I find the discussion on this page both literary and fascinating. I do want to assure you that in this book, Jerome honors TR and that his writing, in TR’s own voice, is as authentic and historically accurate as it is literary. Language is the medium JC uses to bring people he admires back to life to tell their own stories. The fun cover is an homage to TR’s superhero status at the time he lived. Just read a sample and you will find out for yourself. Thank you for being insightful readers – they are Jerome’s lifeblood. — Lenore Riegel