My reactions kept shifting from “Wow, Alex sure knows his stuff” to “Is this guy stupid?”
He also claimed there wasn’t a single good SW made in the 70’s, then endlessly praised California.
He said Frank Wolff wasn’t American, then later in the book said he was.
PS. When is @stanton gonna write a book??
I hear that he has a title already picked out.
“1969: From Boot Hill to El Puro”
“The night I Got Ace High & Actually Enjoyed the Django Theme Song”
I will consider your valuable input.
But my preferred title is at the moment: “The sad lack of clowns in the lackluster westerns of Tonino Valerii”
I love 10000 ways… Yes he contradicts himself at times and he is highly critical of a genre he loves but it’s such an easy and fun read and I think it’s great to have a book by somebody who’s worked in the industry. Being honest I’m the same as he is in that regard, I say this is my favourite genre (and it is no doubt) but I’m very critical of over half of the spaghetti westerns I’ve seen, so even if I don’t agree with his opinions I can usually see where he’s coming from.
The benefit of Cox’s book in the collection of spaghetti western reading material is, I think, his perspective as a filmmaker. It’s a book that focuses not on history, but on storytelling, from the point of view of someone who has done it himself. So you get insights on business from the perspective of a director who has struggled, on working with actors, on technical cinematography, on difficulties bringing scripts to film, etc.
I don’t always agree with him, but I think he provides a different and important insight than most of the other books.
Same. That’s why I think his book is one of the best on the genre.
Any recent book releases that aren’t listed in the SWDb yet? Plus, I am compiling a little holiday guide, what are releases that should be in there, book wise? Could also be a bit beyond the Western genre Holiday Shopping Guide 2017 - The Spaghetti Western Database
Not about SWs, but “High Noon” by Glenn Frankel is a fantastic read (especially if you love the film like I do). He’s also written one about “The Searchers” which I haven’t read yet.
I’ve just had to go and re-read this bit. He assumed it was Mortimer and wasn’t killed by the gunfire 
what the fuck.
It is pretty funny (for the wrong reasons) but I still love his book and his enthusiasm for the genre. Haven’t seen his commentaries for DRAH and The Mercenary yet though.
I like how he gives full reviews for some of the more obscure films in the genre, and how he gives Corbucci more acknowledgment than most other authors.
In the end less than in other books, cause he bashes some of his central films.
It is still interesting what he writes, but also not that insightful, not that special.
A decent book, but it can’t be taken seriously.
Yeah I find it strange that he’s so enthusiastic about his westerns, (not that there’s anything wrong with that of course) but he only seems overly keen on Django and Silence. It’s been a few years since I read the book but going off of memory he doesn’t like The Mercenary, Navajo Joe, Johnny Oro or The Specialists and he seemed to be able to take or leave Companeros. The only other one he seemed to like to some degree was The Hellbenders. Correct me if I’m wrong on any of that though.
I don’t think it’s overly insightful if you want to learn about the films but I think it is insightful in regards to it being a perspective on the genre from somebody who has experience in the film industry.
His hatred for Tony Anthony and Stranger films was kinda weird too.
I was baffled to read that he didn’t give half a shit about all the missing footage in La resa dei conti either 
I don’t remember that but it is strange, I’d never watch that film without that footage.
I guess it depends on whether you think Corbett seeming like a cold blooded killer is fitting or not.
Just the fact they cut some of the cane field scene AKA the best scene in the film, is unforgivable to me 
I don’t, i think it ruins the character enormously.
Which bit was it? I’ve never watched the shorter version but I know from the Italian audio which bits were cut out. I don’t remember any audio changing there.