Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry. By Holly George-Warren. New York: Oxford University Press, c. 2007, Pp. 406. ISBN 978- 0-19-517746-6. $28.00.

Keith Richards, the eccentric Rolling Stones' musician, succinctly summed up the success enjoyed by Gene Autry, the businessman, during a television interview. The TV host supposedly said to Richards, "Well, Keith, I guess you've done about as well as any guitar player could ever hope to do." And Richards responded, "No. My idea of success is Gene Autry sitting in his hotel room and watching his baseball team over a broadcast from his television station."