As a baby boomer I was raised on westerns. I remember spending many nights in front of our old Sylvania black and white TV watching episodes of “Bonanza”,”Gunsmoke”,”the Rifleman”, and other western shows that were the staple of early television. I had on my cowboy hat and my cap gun and would disappear into the adventures of my favorite western heroes.
Not much has changed, I still watch the repeats on TV of those same heroes. But I also read of their exploits in books. The great thing about books is that all the action takes place in my imagination. I’m riding the range on my favorite noble steed, upholding the virtue of a pioneer woman, and clinging to the code of the west. All of these things are available in the western section of our store.
I first began my literary journey in the writings of Americas preeminent western writer, Louis L’amour. In his series of novels about the Sackett family (many of which have been adapted for film) I was transported through the history of our nation. From the earliest settlers to the western expansion. Mr. L’amour has written well over 100 novels and short stories.
There are many other western writers available in our western section. Max Brand, William Johnstone, Zane Grey, among others, but there are also authors that have written great western novels that are mostly known for their writings in other genres.
Robert B. Parker, better known for his Spencer and Jesse Stone Mysteries, first wrote of the adventures of Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch in the novel “Appaloosa” (later adapted for film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortesen). He wrote three other Hitch and Cole novels before his passing and the mantel has been passed to Robert Knott. Check them out.
Ron Hansen has also written three novels of western historical fiction. The first was “Desperados”, a telling of the Dalton Gangs failed attempt to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Ks. on the same day. “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford” was next and made into a film starring Brad Pitt. His newest novel is “The Kid” (I bet you can figure out who it’s about).
Then there’s Mary Doria Russell who has written two outstanding historical novels about two of the greatest western icons ever. “Doc” about the famed southern dentist Doc Holliday during his time before the history making shoot out at the OK corral and “Epitaph” on the life of Wyatt Earp.
So come on in and lose yourself in the history of the old west. Maybe we’ll see each other down the trail.
Curtis
Not much has changed, I still watch the repeats on TV of those same heroes. But I also read of their exploits in books. The great thing about books is that all the action takes place in my imagination. I’m riding the range on my favorite noble steed, upholding the virtue of a pioneer woman, and clinging to the code of the west. All of these things are available in the western section of our store.
I first began my literary journey in the writings of Americas preeminent western writer, Louis L’amour. In his series of novels about the Sackett family (many of which have been adapted for film) I was transported through the history of our nation. From the earliest settlers to the western expansion. Mr. L’amour has written well over 100 novels and short stories.
There are many other western writers available in our western section. Max Brand, William Johnstone, Zane Grey, among others, but there are also authors that have written great western novels that are mostly known for their writings in other genres.
Robert B. Parker, better known for his Spencer and Jesse Stone Mysteries, first wrote of the adventures of Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch in the novel “Appaloosa” (later adapted for film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortesen). He wrote three other Hitch and Cole novels before his passing and the mantel has been passed to Robert Knott. Check them out.
Ron Hansen has also written three novels of western historical fiction. The first was “Desperados”, a telling of the Dalton Gangs failed attempt to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Ks. on the same day. “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford” was next and made into a film starring Brad Pitt. His newest novel is “The Kid” (I bet you can figure out who it’s about).
Then there’s Mary Doria Russell who has written two outstanding historical novels about two of the greatest western icons ever. “Doc” about the famed southern dentist Doc Holliday during his time before the history making shoot out at the OK corral and “Epitaph” on the life of Wyatt Earp.
So come on in and lose yourself in the history of the old west. Maybe we’ll see each other down the trail.
Curtis
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