This terse and enlightening biography of the legendary Sioux warrior by Larry McMurtry, the best-selling author of 21 novels (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, The Last Picture Show), marks the debut of Penguin Lives, a joint publishing venture between Viking and Kenneth Lipper. The series will offer some of the world's most respected authors writing on the lives of politicians, scientists, explorers, religious heroes, artists, and other well-known figures from history. Six biographies will be published this year. The general editor of Penguin Lives is James Atlas, staff writer for the New Yorker.

According to Larry McMurtry, the Sioux "experienced Crazy Horse as a mystery while he was alive. They called him Our Strange Man." He loved being a loner, whether raiding, hunting, or dreaming. His courage in the battles of Fetterman, the Rosebud, and the Little Bighorn made Crazy Horse renowned among warriors. He was also honored as a "shirt-wearer," a person chosen to put selfish interests aside and to think always of the welfare of the tribe.

McMurtry writes about Crazy Horse's unique vision quest, his tragic love interest, his life as a hermit, and his strange death in 1877 while in the custody of soldiers at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.