Named after legendary author Louis L'Amour, the LL-99 sought to answer a question that nobody had ever asked: what if you could write an entire novel on horseback, or in a saloon, or from a rickety chair on a wooden boardwalk during a gruesome duel to the death.
Officially known as the Mounted Composition Stabilization Kit, the accessory remains one of the most controversial products in company history.
The kit consisted of:
While technically possible to compose on horseback, most operators reported that the resulting manuscripts contained excessive punctuation, erratic spacing, and an unusually high number of exclamation marks.
A company bulletin notes:
"Continuous composition is not recommended above a trot."
The bulletin was ignored.
Not approved for:
The LL-99 was a commercial failure and a literary triumph.
Named after legendary author Louis L'Amour, the LL-99 sought to answer a question that nobody had ever asked: what if you could write an entire novel on horseback, or in a saloon, or from a rickety chair on a wooden boardwalk during a gruesome duel to the death.
Released in 1977 by the Frontier Narratives Division, the machine was originally marketed to western novelists, regional historians, rodeo journalists, and government land surveyors. Sales never exceeded 2,000 units, but surviving examples remain highly sought after by collectors of obsolete literary equipment.