How to Track Down American Old West Literature

Posted by Anonymous , 9/4/2007 Tags:TrackDownAmericanOldWestLiterature
Post By :
Anonymous
Rate:
Vote

How to Track Down American Old West Literature

Introduction

We seek heroes in the pages of the books we read. Late in the 19th century, the cowboys of the Wild West rode off the pages of dime novels and into our collective psyches. American literature - and cinema - would be markedly poorer without tales of the Old West.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Steps

1

Step One

Begin with the dawn of the frontier, perhaps even James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans."
2

Step Two

Read about the first wild souls to seek adventure across the Mississippi in A.B. Guthrie's "The Big Sky."
3

Step Three

Study the mountain men and fur traders as history with "Across the Wide Missouri" by Bernard De Voto.
4

Step Four

Move on to the first of classic Westerns with Owen Wister's "The Virginian."
5

Step Five

Look into the reality novels like Walter Van Tilburg Clark's "The Ox Bow Incident."
6

Step Six

Find life in the West as truth and fiction. Read "Life of Tom Horn, Government Scout and Interpreter," the autobiography of the famous scout and foster son of Geronimo, and "I, Tom Horn" by Will Henry.
7

Step Seven

Remember classic authors of the genre: Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and Max Brand.
8

Step Eight

Turn to Texas literature and its masters. Read anything by J. Frank Dobie, Edna Ferber's "Giant," Edwin Shrake's "Blessed McGill," Ben K. Green's "Horse Tradin'," or James B. Gillette's "Six Years with the Texas Rangers."
9

Step Nine

Seek out the essence of Western history in the works of Mari Sandoz and Dee Brown.
10

Step Ten

Find any book by Elmer Kelton, who pens masterpieces within the genre. "The Day the Cowboys Quit" is a good place to begin your journey.
11

Step Eleven

Look into the works of two modern masters traveling to the Wild West - Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" and Thomas Berger's "Little Big Man" take the genre to the level of true literature.

Overall Tips & Warnings

  • Many of the legends of the Old West participated in writing their biographies or autobiographies, including everyone from Wyatt Earp to John Wesley Hardin. Remember: truth is sometimes stranger - and less accurate - than fiction.

Overall Things You'll Need

  • Bookcases
  • Laptop Computer
  • Reading Glasses
  • Books On Tape
  • Reading Chairs
  • Miniature Reading Lights
  • Computers
  • Reading Lamps
  • Bookends
  • Macintosh Computers
  • Internet Access
  • Western Videos
  • Internet Explorer
  • Book Bags
Tools: |