Western Fiction
Book Reviews
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Book: The Last Kind Words Saloon, by Larry McMurtry Style: Western-Mythish Plot: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and other historical western characters like Buffalo Bill Cody and Charles Goodnight interact with fictional characters in a mythic West. Lines from the Opening Paragraphs: A hat came skipping down the main street of Long Grass, propelled only by the wind, which Read more
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I never got in this business, in cinema, to make horror movies. They arrived on my doorstep and I got typecast. Which was fine, I enjoy it, but I got into this business to make westerns. And the kind of westerns I used to see, they died. So that didn’t work out. John Carpenter Read more
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“I have often wondered why we don’t have greater Western stories than we do. Great stories are there waiting to be dug out. There are hundreds of people far more worthy than the notorious Billy the Kid (upon whom the spotlight has fallen for years), unknown outside of their home neighborhood, robust people living in Read more
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“Throwback Thursdays” at ClimbingSky feature posts I wrote over 15 years for various blogs. This was first posted on June 24, 2011. As a literary and film art form, the Western’s time has passed. And yet… there remains a small number of dedicated western fans who remain loyal to this most American of all art Read more
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For the past few years I have been downsizing my various “collections” of books. Here are some of the great paperbacks I recently got rid of. Enjoy the great artwork! Read more
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The Best Western Stories of Lewis B. Patten is a collection of Patten’s short stories edited by Bill Prozini and Martin Greenberg. It is part of a set of “Best Western Stories” they did in the 1980s. I have also owned and read their The Best Western Stories of Frank Bonham. I know they did at Read more
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If you grow up in the West and and do not like westerns, it is the same as if you grew up in Belgium and do not like beer. At the very least, you have proven yourself to be someone who cannot be trusted. The status that westerns have in American culture is much diminished Read more
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Vengeance is the Spur, by Harry Whittington, is a “Cowboy & Indian” story. Captain Sam Marshall does not want war with the Apaches. He is trying to find a peaceful solution. But Washington D.C. relieves him of his command and sends a by-the-book Major (and, of course, his beautiful daughter) to take charge of the situation. Read more
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