Patrick deWitt’s wild romp in westerns The Sisters Brothers is fast-paced, gritty, and darkly humorous. While these appeals are not traditional for the western, the nostalgia evoked by Charlie and Eli’s adventures across California and Oregon territory are sure to entertain all western fans. Set to the task of retrieving information from a man in San Francisco by the Commodore the Sisters Brothers come to face with a bear, gold beyond imagination, and a witch. Charlie is known as one of the surest shots in the west and Eli is equally proficient but does not have the same blood lust as his brother. This final mission from the Commodore will leave the Sisters Brothers changed for the rest of their lives, and was it worth it? The violence, atmospheric writing style, brotherly love, and adventure held within these pages will keep the reader’s attention from start to finish.

Funny, dark, dramatic, and engaging. Eli and Charlie are intriguing main characters. The vignettes that make up the meat of the novel are very interesting, despite them feeling superfluous to the narrative, but the American West is all about moments of tremendous success surrounded by a lifetime of chaotic suffering. This novel portrays that well.

Didn't like the book. Silly characters.

Tea & Talk Book Club / November 2015

Avoid the movie version at all costs. It's horrible.

This is on its way to being one of my favorite books of all time! Filled with dark humor, awkward situations, and unforgettable characters. Notable sense of time and place. Its ALL about the dialogue here...Fans of Quentin Tarantino and readers of Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck will appreciate this one.

I found the best thing about this Western road trip set in 1851 is the voice of the narrator, Eli Sisters. Eli and his brother Charlie, the titular Sisters brothers, are hired hitmen working for a crime boss named simply the Commodore. Their current assignment is to travel from Oregon City to San Francisco and Sacramento to kill a gold prospector for reasons not divulged until much later in the story. They set off on horseback and encounter a number of strange characters along the road, including an apparent witch, a weeping man, and a teenage survivor of a gold-seeking family caravan that fell on hard times. Eli narrates all this in a refined, supposedly 19th-century style that sounds very proper and literary and entirely out of place for an uneducated (or least under-educated) hired gun. There is a gentle, wise humour throughout, even though the events being described are sometimes quite gruesome and bloody.

Several blurbs for the book compare it to Cormac McCarthy's The Road. There are some similarities, but The Sisters Brothers is far less dark than The Road. I found it a quick and enjoyable read. I wouldn't say there are any deep meanings or messages, but the tone and style are excellent.

One of the best books I have seen and read in my entire life, good job Patrick DeWitts!

Dull and simple - DNF

This novel is unlike any other western , keep that in mind when you read it. Imaginative and witty don't give up after the first chapter you will hit a gold mine if you keep reading. Plus there is a movie out that follows the story and captures the essence of what the author is expressing in his unusual characters. I highly recommend