''Zeke and Ned'' is a 1997 American novel by

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

and

Diana Ossana Diana Lynn Ossana (born August 24, 1949) is an American writer who has collaborated on writing screenplays, teleplays, and novels with author Larry McMurtry since they first worked together in 1992, on the semi-fictionalized biography ''Pretty ...

set against the backdrop to Ned Christie's War. It was McMutry's second published collaboration with Ossana, following on from ''Pretty Boy Floyd''. (They also collaborated on screenplays for ''Streets of Loredo'' and ''Dead Man's Walk''.) Although ''Pretty Boy Floyd'' was originally written as screenplay, ''Zeke and Ned'' was written as a novel. The novel features fictional depictions of real characters such as

Ned Christie Ned Christie (December 14, 1852 – November 3, 1892), also known as ''NeDe WaDe'' (ᏁᏕᏩᏕ), was a Cherokee statesman. Christie was a member of the executive council in the Cherokee Nation senate, and served as one of three advisers to Pri ...

and

Isaac C. Parker Isaac Charles Parker (October 15, 1838 – November 17, 1896), also known as “Hanging Judge” Parker, was an American politician and jurist. He served as a United States representative from Missouri and was appointed as the first United State ...

Reception

The ''San Francisco Examiner'' declared "the pages just sing." ''Kirkus'' called it "A mock-heroic tale of culture shock and sudden death along our westering frontier in which the principals (whether red or white) are portrayed as simple-minded primitives." ''Publisher's Weekly'' wrote, "the friendship between Zeke and Ned gives the story its prime canvas, even as their battles with marshals and rivals add period color. But what gives this well-wrought tale its depth is how McMurtry and Ossana convey the era's various moral shades of gray. "Zeke and Ned
at Publishers Weekly

References

{{Larry McMurtry 1997 novels Novels by Larry McMurtry