The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel)

E244437

historical fiction work novel

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel) is a historical fiction work by Ron Hansen that reimagines the final months of outlaw Jesse James’s life and his fraught relationship with his eventual killer, Robert Ford.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	1
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel) canonical	1
assassination of Jesse James by Robert Ford	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2198460 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel)
Context triple: [The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, basedOn, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel)]

A. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 revisionist Western film that explores the complex relationship between outlaw Jesse James and his eventual killer Robert Ford, noted for its lyrical cinematography and introspective tone.
B. The Return of Frank James
The Return of Frank James is a 1940 Western film that follows Frank James’s quest for justice after the death of his infamous outlaw brother Jesse James.
C. The Executioner’s Song
The Executioner’s Song is a Pulitzer Prize–winning nonfiction novel by Norman Mailer that chronicles the life, crimes, and execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore.
D. A Gunfight
A Gunfight is a 1971 Western film starring Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash that explores aging gunfighters facing one last deadly showdown staged as a public spectacle.
E. Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 epic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese that explores the Osage Nation murders in 1920s Oklahoma and the birth of the FBI.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel)
Target entity description: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel) is a historical fiction work by Ron Hansen that reimagines the final months of outlaw Jesse James’s life and his fraught relationship with his eventual killer, Robert Ford.

A. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 revisionist Western film that explores the complex relationship between outlaw Jesse James and his eventual killer Robert Ford, noted for its lyrical cinematography and introspective tone.
B. The Return of Frank James
The Return of Frank James is a 1940 Western film that follows Frank James’s quest for justice after the death of his infamous outlaw brother Jesse James.
C. The Executioner’s Song
The Executioner’s Song is a Pulitzer Prize–winning nonfiction novel by Norman Mailer that chronicles the life, crimes, and execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore.
D. A Gunfight
A Gunfight is a 1971 Western film starring Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash that explores aging gunfighters facing one last deadly showdown staged as a public spectacle.
E. Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 epic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese that explores the Osage Nation murders in 1920s Oklahoma and the birth of the FBI.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (40)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical fiction work ⓘ novel ⓘ
adaptedAs	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (film) ⓘ linked to: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
author	Ron Hansen ⓘ
basedOn	assassination of Jesse James ⓘ life of Jesse James ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
filmAdaptationDirector	Andrew Dominik ⓘ
filmAdaptationReleaseYear	2007 ⓘ
filmAdaptationStar	Brad Pitt ⓘ Casey Affleck ⓘ
focusesOnRelationshipBetween	Jesse James ⓘ Robert Ford ⓘ
genre	Western fiction ⓘ historical fiction ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
literaryStyle	detailed historical realism ⓘ lyrical prose ⓘ
mainCharacter	Jesse James ⓘ Robert Ford ⓘ
mediaType	print ⓘ
narrativePerspective	third-person narration ⓘ
notableFor	psychological portrait of Robert Ford ⓘ reimagining the legend of Jesse James ⓘ
originalLanguage	English ⓘ
publicationYear	1983 ⓘ
publisher	Alfred A. Knopf ⓘ
settingLocation	American Midwest ⓘ Missouri ⓘ
settingPeriod	late 19th century ⓘ
subjectMatter	American outlaws ⓘ Robert Ford ⓘ assassination ⓘ outlaw Jesse James ⓘ
theme	betrayal ⓘ celebrity and notoriety ⓘ hero worship ⓘ myth versus reality ⓘ violence in American history ⓘ
timeSpanCovered	final months of Jesse James’s life ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford → basedOn → The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel) ⓘ

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford → historicalBasis → assassination of Jesse James by Robert Ford ⓘ

linked to: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel)

Ron Hansen → notableWork → The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ⓘ