Based on the life of bronc rider Doughbelly Price, The Diamond Hitch tells the story of Dewey Jones, western cowman and rodeo hooligan, as he travels the circuit throughout the Southwest in search of that one big purse that will punch his ticket out of rodeo bumming and into a more normal life. O'Rourke effectively evokes the sights, sounds and smells of the cowboy way presenting an unvarnished glimpse into this vanished way of life. Frank O'Rourke (1916 -1989) was a prolific, versatile and popular writer of novels, westerns, mysteries, sports fiction and short stories. He wrote more than 60 novels; his first, E Company, based on his life in the wartime Army, was published in 1945. He wrote so quickly, sometimes three books a year, that on the advice of agents he used such pseudonyms as Patrick O'Malley, Frank O'Malley and Kevin Connor. Some of his works were made into movies and television plays, including The Bravados, starring Gregory Peck in 1958, and A Mule for the Marquesa (retitled The Professionals), starring Burt Lancaster in 1966.
Molly Gloss is a fourth–generation Oregonian who lives in Portland. She is the bestselling author of The Jump–Off Creek, The Dazzle of Day, Wild Life, The Hearts of Horses and Falling From Horses. Her work has earned numerous awards, including an Oregon Book Award, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the PEN West Fiction Prize, the James Tiptree Jr. Award; and a Whiting Writers Award.
