Book Review of
The Compton Cowboys

Lynn's Review

I picked up a copy of The Compton Cowboys by Walter Thompson-Hernandez at a library book sale. It looked like a nonfiction book that I would enjoy. When I finished this book I had so many mixed thoughts.

I wanted to love this book about a new generation of urban cowboys in America, but it wasn’t what I thought it would be.

I did enjoy that it took me to the big city life in California where I had no idea they had cowboys. I also had no idea that there were cowboys riding the streets of Compton, CA. I enjoyed that part of the book.

What I thought the book lacked was hope. The lady in charge of the Compton Cowboys retired and turned the group over to her nephew. Instead of giving me hope that the Compton Cowboys would continue to change lives, I was left with a feeling that they were falling apart. Instead of saving lives, lives were staying the same.

I felt this book was more about gangs, drugs, and life in the inner city than it was about the Compton Cowboys. I wish the author had added more about the history of the Compton Cowboys and how it had changed lives. Instead, it focused just on the modern day and the current Compton Cowboys.

I am glad I read this one, but I am not sure I would recommend it. Or at least I would make sure you know what you are getting when you pick it up.