Little Britches: Man of the Family

319 pp. Woodcuts by Edward Shenton. "Ralph Owen Moody (December 16, 1898 – June 28, 1982) was an American author and actor who wrote 17 novels and autobiographies largely about the American West, though a few are set in New England. He was born in East Rochester, New Hampshire and moved to Littleton, Colorado in 1906 with his family when he was eight in the hopes that a dry climate would improve his father Charles's tuberculosis. Moody detailed his experiences in Colorado in the first book of the Little Britches series, Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers. Moody's formal education was limited, but he had a lifelong interest in learning and self-education. At age 50, he enrolled in a writing class; this led to his first novel Little Britches, which led to a series covering his diverse boyhood and overcoming the rigors of growing up in the American West. His books have been described as crude in the language of the times but are highly praised by his readership and have been in continuous publication since 1950. The "crude language" is solely used as an accurate portrayal of the common language of the times, being spoken by the real-life characters depicted in the books."