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The Outcasts of Poker Flat

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The Outcasts of Poker Flat

By: Bret Harte
Narrated by: Jack Benson
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A motley crew, banished from a Western town, find strength, and weakness, in each other.©1981 Jimcin Recordings (P)1981 Jimcin Recordings Anthologies & Short Stories Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Short Stories
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Editor reviews

Poker Flat, a small town in Northwestern California, is the setting for this much-loved and much-adapted short story by iconic western writer Bret Harte - or, the “Immortal Bilk”, as Mark Twain maligned him. Performed by Jack Benson with a masculine serenity befitting its hero, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" gathers a group of misfits into a grand natural amphitheater upon their banishment from a town that has recently experienced a run of hard luck. Luck and fate become the themes of Harte’s tale, and a prototypical American type - the quiet, philosophical gambler - is born.

"The Outcasts of Poker Flat" has inspired no less than two operas and at least three films, including the classic spaghetti western, Four of the Apocalypse. Here is the original.
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The warmth and humanity of the voice of the narrator will sustain you through this tale of survival in the deadly cold. If you don't know this story by reading it yourself, this is where you should start.

Audio tribute to Bret Harte's story telling

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