Cloudy in the West is, like Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (1884; see separate entry, Vol. 2), the story of a young boy's difficult journey into maturity. Its narrator is omniscient only where Joey is concerned, is always able to know what Joey is thinking, and never leaves the boy to describe the actions of other characters out of his proximity. Although Beau and Alta are along on the journey and both profit enormously from the experiences encountered on the road, this is Joey's story.

Kelton's imagery—fresh, significant, and consistently appropriate—helps readers understand the narrative by giving them specific mental pictures of the things and scenes described.

Because the narration is primarily from Joey's point of view, many of these images are his. When, for example, Joey sees himself trapped on the ranch after the death of his father —unable to get away because...