Benediction

Based on the true story of North America's most unlikely cowboy, Benediction is a gritty, trenchantly observed tale of fraud and reinvention in the Old West. In 1907, the fifteen-year-old French-Canadian Ernest Dufault left his home in Quebec for Montana, where he was promptly arrested as a cattle thief and, as a prisoner of the state of Nevada, passed himself off as an American cowboy named Will James. Over the next few decades, Dufault, a.k.a . James, would flourish as a cowboy and horsebreaker and go on to become an artist, a soldier, a Hollywood stuntman, a bestselling author of award-winning westerns — and his own false memoir. Dufault was so successful a pretender that he was later inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners, and his estranged wife, Alice Conradt, would only learn his true identity when, at the age of fifty, Will James died an alcoholic and left his estate to a man she had never heard of: one Ernest Dufault. In Benediction , Olivier Dufault recreates the true story of his distant relative Ernest's incarceration in a Nevada prison for rustling cattle and his subsequent reinvention of himself as "Will James." Relying on authentic historical materials including letters, telegrams, and court documents as much as his own imagination, Olivier Dufault's magnificent novel is a posthumous benediction of an exceptional American life in which truth and lies walk side by side. In 1907, the fifteen-year-old French-Canadian Ernest Dufault left his home in Quebec for Montana, where he was promptly arrested as a cattle thief and, as a prisoner of the state of Nevada, passed himself off as an American cowboy named Will James. Over the next few decades, Dufault, a.k.a. James, would flourish as a cowboy and horsebreaker and go on to become an artist, a soldier, a Hollywood stuntman, a bestselling author of award-winning westerns - and his own false memoir. The Quebecer was so successful a pretender that he was later inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners, and his estranged wife, Alice Conradt, would only learn his true identity when, at the age of fifty, Will James died an alcoholic and left his estate to a man she had never heard of: one Ernest Dufault.In Benediction, Olivier Dufault recreates the true story of his distant relative Ernest's incarceration in a Nevada prison for rustling cattle and his subsequent reinvention of himself as "Will James." Relying on authentic historical materials including letters, telegrams, and court documents as much as his own imagination, Olivier Dufault's magnificent novel is a posthumous benediction of an exceptional American life in which truth and lies walk side by side In 1907, the fifteen-year-old French-Canadian Ernest Dufault left his home in Quebec for Montana, where he was promptly arrested as a cattle thief. As a prisoner of the state of Nevada, he passed himself off as an American cowboy named Will James. Over the next few decades, Dufault, a.k.a. James, would flourish as a cowboy and horsebreaker and go on to become an artist, a soldier, a Hollywood stuntman, and a bestselling author of award-winning westerns and his own false memoir. The Quebecer was so successful a pretender that he was later inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners, and his estranged wife, Alice Conradt, would only learn his true identity when, at the age of fifty, Will James died and left his estate to a man she had never heard one Ernest Dufault. In Benediction , Olivier Dufault recreates the true story of his distant relative Ernests incarceration in a Nevada prison and his subsequent reinvention as Will James. Relying on authentic historical materials, including letters, telegrams, and court documents, as much as his own imagination, Olivier Dufaults magnificent novel is a posthumous benediction of an exceptional American life in which truth and lies walk side by side. "In 1907 fifteen-year-old Ernest Dufault left Quebec for Montana, where he passed himself off as an American cowboy named Will James. Over the next few decades, Ernest would be a cattle thief, a soldier, a Hollywood stuntman, and a bestselling and award-winning writer of westerns. Ernest was so successful an imposter that he was later inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners. His own wife would only learn his true identity after his death at fifty, when he bequeathed his entire estate to a man she has never heard of, Ernest Dufault. In Benediction, Ernest's relative Olivier Dufault uncovers the true story of his two years in a Nevada prison for stealing cattle. Using real documents, including letters, telegrams, and court documents, mixed with his inimitable novelistic style, Olivier reconstructs an incredible life where truth and lies were almost indistinguishable."-- Provided by publisher "Bénédiction raconte un peu plus d'une année dans la vie de Will James, de la toute fin de 1914, où il est arrêté pour vol de bétail en Utah, à la première moitié de l'année 1916, où il est libéré sur parole de la prison fédérale de Carson City, Nevada. Les documents présentés à même le texte - les lettres de Dufault à ses parents, les télégrammes de la traque de Will James, les documents reliés à sa libération conditionnelle, etc. - sont authentiques."--BAnQ