Quickshots: Chick Bowdrie

Thanks for the intro, Beverly Garland!

I highly recommend The Collected Bowdrie Dramatizations. The audiobook versions of these come in three sets of six stories. They’re full-cast, with interviews with Louis L’Amour interspersed throughout—he talks about his writing style, his history, and the people he met while doing research. There’s a little bit of music, some great voice acting, and overall they’re just good, friendly, wholesome fun stories.

The series follows the eponymous Bowdrie, who starts off as a young man on the frontier, edging his way from the wildness of the world toward life as an outlaw. But the man manages to correct himself and, with the help of the famous Ranger McNulty, becomes a Texas Ranger. The rest of the stories are about his time as a ranger—investigations, law enforcement, that kind of thing.

Bowdrie’s career mixes classic western flavor with a bit of police procedural, and a good deal of fieldcraft, woodcraft, tracking, and survivalism. If you like any good western, imagine taking your favorite detective thriller—gritty city stuff—and setting it out in the backend of nowhere, Texas. The main character’s just a bit more wholesome than your average private dick.

These really are feel-good stories. There’s action and suspense, sure, but they’ve got that good old-fashioned “right wins over wrong” vibe I usually don’t go for. And honestly, you don’t see it that often unless it’s coming from some preachy alt-right source. But boy—these hit different. Great background listening, great to have with you on a hike or a long drive. Just overall excellent work.