Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Lips of the Sun: Adventures of Cattleman by W. Town Andrews is a western novel with a difference. Boyd Fedder is a charismatic, rather unusual cowboy. Today, he roams the western ranges and valleys with his beloved cow Dozie and his mule Cupcake. Living off the land, catching fish and small rodents to eat, Boyd always has the perfect answer to any petty, uniformed bureaucrat who might dare to question his right to fish or hunt in the great outdoors. Boyd can cite the number and passage of whatever State law gives him the right to do so. After all, Boyd is on a good, old-fashioned cattle drive, albeit with one cow. In this deeply comedic farce, Boyd reminisces about his past and, with the help of a long-dead Ute Native American chief he encounters in a graveyard, offers some past reminiscences he isn’t sure had even occurred. All along his journey, Boyd’s sole motivation seems to be to shun modernity, live like one should in the West, and protect his beloved Dozie from the clutches of the abbatoir.

Lips of the Sun is a genuinely warm and relatable story about someone lost in his own narrative of what life should be and how it should unfold. Author W. Town Andrews has created the quintessential laid-back, thoughtful wanderer. Boyd Fedder has found the perfect life for himself and his precious cow, Dozie. It’s not that Boyd is particularly antisocial; he genuinely does like people and mixing with them, but it is modernity, its toys, and obsessions that he has no patience for. His lifestyle does not seem at all unusual to him, and he struggles with others' often unwillingness to accept him and what he represents. I particularly enjoyed Boyd’s communion with the Ute Chief and the pearls of wisdom that flowed between the pair. The laid-back writing style perfectly suited the characters, and it was easy to see the author had a great affection for Boyd and his unusual idiosyncrasies. There are moments of genuine humor in Boyd’s adventures, and readers will find themselves chuckling at some of his assertions, perceptions, and outlooks. For me, the underlying message from Boyd’s unusual lifestyle is to question our constant scramble for things and our desperate need to advance our material well-being. All you really need to enjoy life is the wide-open spaces, a cow at your side, and a half donkey, half horse. Then you can be truly free. This is an enjoyable, fun read that I highly recommend.