The Collected Works of Billy the Kid

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[ transcribed from the back cover ] ‘A compassionate and convincing portrait not only of a savage individual but of the casually brutal human wilderness in which Billy was both villain and victim. Ondaatje’s techniques of many-dimensioned collage and flash-back are sharply conceived ad brilliantly carried through. He creates the near-madness of Billy and his companions, the paranoia of the guardians of law and order, and the crazy instability of one era of the American Dream.’