Printed in 1971. Available from a variety of used book sources. Beautiful pictures. Interesting western facts. I sent a copy to a friend then ordered another for myself.
Anyone else gave a favorite book about the west?
Need some good western reading?
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Printed in 1971. Available from a variety of used book sources. Beautiful pictures. Interesting western facts. I sent a copy to a friend then ordered another for myself.
Anyone else gave a favorite book about the west?
No suggestions? There must be a few western history buffs on this forum.JEESHNeed not nead. I need more coffee before posting.
Colonialgirl
Hawkeye
I have rread western novels but was truly a Sci-Fi fan and read all the great and not so great authors in that genre; Then late in life I got hooked on Terry Pratchett (English Author) that has a huge series of books on "Disc World". Sadly he has passed away.
KIR
Sparks, NV
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Just finished reading 'FREMONT' by Ferol Egan. Since I went to Fremont High School in L.A. and now living in Sparks, NV I was immediately interested in picking up the book. It was a great read and the only thing I could find fault with the book was, I would have preferred more detailed maps of all the places mentioned during Fremont's explorations. Below is a picture of the Pyramid on Pyramid Lake. When Fremont first saw it the water level was a lot higher. As for the Fremont Cannon...it was allegedly lost somewhere in the mountains not far from Carson City. Long after a local farmer brought it into the state museum and unfortunately there was no way to verify that it was the actual howitzer that Fremont took with him. I strongly suggest one give a try to this book as it contains, not only historical readings but also fantastic adventures of the men who helped open the west to the pioneers who came after.
Attachments
Mike Armstrong
Hunter
Some (maybe most!) of my favorite Western reading is now not just out of print, but fairly hard to find. One of my favorites is "Winding Stair" by Douglas Jones, about a young lawyer working for the Hanging Judge in Ft. Smith AR in the 1880s who is trying to prosecute the perps of a multiple murder in the Winding Stair Mountains of the "new" Indian Territories. Great research and info on the realities of those times and places. Gets the guns right, too. First great book of a good series.
I also like "All The Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy. With McCarthy you should skip the movies made of his novels. Hollywood denatures his brutal honesty. The raw spirit is a lot better. Read the darn books!
LOTS of great Western fiction out there. My preference is novels set in the end-of-the-frontier period and in the "Model T West." More attention to historical accuracy, less tripey tropes, more bobwire, less gitbox.
But maybe that's just another personal symptom like my preference for DAs (Ruger, not judicial)!
I also like "All The Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy. With McCarthy you should skip the movies made of his novels. Hollywood denatures his brutal honesty. The raw spirit is a lot better. Read the darn books!
LOTS of great Western fiction out there. My preference is novels set in the end-of-the-frontier period and in the "Model T West." More attention to historical accuracy, less tripey tropes, more bobwire, less gitbox.
But maybe that's just another personal symptom like my preference for DAs (Ruger, not judicial)!
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J. P. S. Brown wrote good modern day Westerns like Jim Kane and Wolves at Our Door. Jack Schaefer wrote Monte Walsh and Shane. Glendon Swarthout wrote The Shootist. I can read at work so take advantage and enjoy the time
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- Alabama, in the bend of the Tennessee River
Tony Hillerman novels set on the Navaho reservation in the Four Corners area; real places, culturally educating, and good murder mysteries besides.
Give Your Heart To The Hawks
A tribute to the mountain men
by Win Blevins
Pretty much anything by Terry C. Johnson
A tribute to the mountain men
by Win Blevins
Pretty much anything by Terry C. Johnson
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Mike Armstrong
Hunter
I second the Tony Hillerman choice. His daughter is about as good w/some of the same material and characters. I also like Paul Dorion's (not Western, unless you consider Western Maine) and C. J. Box's (really Western) police precedurals starring game wardens, but wish they both would stick to having their characters do game warden jobs and stop dragging international terrorists and drug cartels into the plots. Being a game warden is plenty dramatic if told right (I actually know a few "fish cops"!).
cowboycopus
Single-Sixer
Louis l'Amour, Zane Grey, Larry McMurtrie, Willam Johnstone, Ralph Compton
Just to name a few.
If you haven't read Boons Lick, it's a good one.
Just to name a few.
If you haven't read Boons Lick, it's a good one.
KIR
Sparks, NV
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Sorry 6GUNSONLY, mebbe it's just me, but I really wanted to like Hillerman's novels as I enjoyed the TV movies, but I did not find his novels all that EZ to read.
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I'll have to second the nods to both Tony Hillerman and Sir Terry Pratchett. Not necessarily Westerns in the pure sense, but they are both kinda
contagious once you've read their stuff. I prefer reading historical documents and records when I get the chance.
contagious once you've read their stuff. I prefer reading historical documents and records when I get the chance.
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Quote: Sorry 6GUNSONLY, mebbe it's just me, but I really wanted to like Hillerman's novels as I enjoyed the TV movies, but I did not find his novels all that EZ to read.
if you read the books before seeing the tv series, as I did, I think you'd feel just the opposite. I read the novels 30 years ago, saw the dramatized series last year. The books are some much richer and more culturally informative.
if you read the books before seeing the tv series, as I did, I think you'd feel just the opposite. I read the novels 30 years ago, saw the dramatized series last year. The books are some much richer and more culturally informative.
P.S. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I have a variety on order now.
Looking forward to new authors.
Threespears
Buckeye
C J Box
Joe Pickett series
Joe Pickett series
Books are good, but the TV series was horrible.
Try "The Searchers. The Making of an American Legend." by Glenn Frankel. It's a unique book spanning the history behind Texas Comanche kidnappings; Alan Lemay, author of The Searchers; John Ford and the Duke; Monument Valley; Making the Movie. Everything you didn't know about the greatest Western of them all.
Threespears
Buckeye
Didn’t see the tv series but I have heard it was bad from more than one person
I liked The Woodsman and The Captives by Don Wright
Threespears
Buckeye
Last week I saw the first Joe picket TV show.
what a disappointment. I turned it off after 15 minutes
