A Nevada Divorce Ranch Memoir. True stories. 180 Vintage Images.
RENO, 1947. Imagine you’ve had enough of your cheating spouse. You’re ready to leave. But it’s 1947. And that means unless your spouse “gives” you a divorce, you’re stuck.
Or you could go to Reno!
Divorce seekers by the thousands were running to "The Biggest Little City in the World” for a six-week, no-fault divorce. If they had the money and the need for privacy, they stayed on one of the dude ranches around town. Someone called those dude ranches divorce ranches and the name stuck.
From 1947-1949, Montana cowboy Bill McGee was the dude wrangler on the famous Flying M E divorce ranch, an exclusive hideout for the wealthy twenty miles south of Reno. He entertained Eastern socialites with names like Astor and du Pont, and Hollywood movie stars Clark Gable and Ava Gardner.
In this book, you will find:
– A captivating collection of true stories illustrated with vintage photographs from the author’s collection or the private collections of former Flying M E guests.
– A firsthand account of life on the exclusive Flying M E… as Bill McGee entertained guests on trail rides by day and escorted them to their favorite watering holes to drink and gamble by night.
– A unique magazine-style layout, perfect for reading cover-to-cover or skipping around to your favorite stories.
– An Introduction by divorce ranch novelist Peggy Wynne Borgman, who sets the stage for the allure of 1940s Reno and how a little town out West changed the way people divorced in America.
“At the age of twenty-one and the only man on the ranch, surrounded by all those beautiful and wealthy women, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Those were some of the best years of my life.” – Bill McGee
184 pp, 180 photographs & illustrations. 8.5″ x 11″
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: The Divorce Seekers details a little-known but fascinating piece of Western American history, recounting the experiences of a Nevada dude wrangler on a divorce ranch in the late 1940s. The idea is engaging, though the book's format detracts somewhat from the appeal.
Prose: Bill McGee is charming as he candidly recounts his experiences, dropping entertaining snippets of life on the ranch that are lighthearted and fun to read, from time period specific lingo to snapshots of major historical events.
Originality: This is a nostalgic, diverting glance at an unconventional time in American history. The illustrations add context to the book's stories, and the narrative is rich with colorful characters and happenings.
Character/Execution: The Divorce Seekers stays fairly carefree, though it touches on a handful of American milestones that impacted McGee's life, such as the Second World War. The bulk of the memoir is devoted to McGee's charismatic stories of the celebrities he worked with during his time at the ranch.
Date Submitted: October 04, 2024
"I love the magazine-style format... I can read cover-to-cover or skip around."
"Delightful reading about bygone times and glamorous people … a valuable history of a unique epoch of the West."
"The images – with their smoky, black-and-white, retro allure – are what brought the time and place alive for me so that I could bring my characters to life in my novel … This book is a treasure if only for the photos alone."
"The Divorce Seekers is the best book yet about Nevada's famous dude-divorce ranch business."
"Bill McGee's stories are like an old Hollywood movie coming to life."
"This casual, heartfelt history of the Nevada divorce ranch era is a fascinating social document spangled with many of the period’s socialites and movie stars at their most vulnerable. With a handy Reno divorce glossary."
"The only memoir written by a former Nevada divorce ranch wrangler."
