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PrintBook review: Cowboys and Bureaucrats
A book for anyone who hankers for the good old days
Cowboys and Bureaucrats
Sheppard Higgins
SheppardHiggins.com
Anyone who believes that families disintegrate too casually these days, and that people aren't as kind or generous or tough as they used to be, may find themselves nodding in agreement with Sheppard Higgins, who shares his musings on the good old days and what happened to them in his first book, Cowboys and Bureaucrats.
The book is primarily a biography of Higgins, an American storyteller and self-described "average guy" who shares memories of growing up in a small Western town during the '50s and '60s — visiting relatives, going to school, and playing football — all to illustrate a way of life that may not have passed completely but has certainly declined over the proceeding years.
Some will find echoes of Garrison Keillor in the book's praise for the values and self-reliance of honest rural folk, though Higgins' politically conservative perspective (he blames feminists and the social upheavals of the 1960s for the current state of our union) is more reminiscent of Bill O'Reilly. Many of the author's views and assertions are politically incorrect to say the least.
But what some readers may dismiss as "these kids today" grousing from an old cowhand, many more will embrace as an elegy for a time when it seemed like more people valued citizenship, civility, and patriotism.
