Deadwood by Pete Dexter

Most dark comedy novels feature exaggerated characters and events, but Pete Dexter did not have to exaggerate very much, if at all, to create the larger-than-life characters and outrageous events in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in 1876. There really existed a handsome gambler and gunfighter named Wild Bill Hickok, who could shoot a shot glass off the head of a bulldog at thirty paces despite being half blind from syphilis; a homely and dirty wildcat of a woman named Calamity Jane, who loved Wild Bill and claimed to have married him; a "soft-brained" bathhouse owner called The Bottle Fiend, who was told many secrets; a vindictive hulking lawman named Boon May, who was a coward at heart; a lovely Chinese whore called China Doll, who was slaughtered in a brutal fashion; a sneaky little man named Jack McCall, who shot Wild Bill in the back. In fact, every character in this novel, save one, is based on a real person. The major events, including Hickok's murder and the fire which burned the town, really happened. By all accounts, Dexter carefully researched his book, so it is likely as true an account as legend mixed with known fact can make it.

Dexter has taken extraordinary people and events, historical research, and a keen sense of the ridiculous to create a book that is thoughtful, informative, immensely interesting, and often laugh-out-loud funny. I really liked this one.