Overview

For over 200 years, the American Western novel has chronicled much of the American experience, especially those of James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte, Andy Adams, Jack Schaefer and Larry McMurtry. Alongside the roguish figure of the cowboy, Westerns depict the experiences of women and minorities as they face the hardships and deprivations of the frontier. This book is directed at the general reader who is interested in the literature, history and culture of the American West. Exploring novels that have achieved a high level of acclaim, it is a survey and homage to the frontier's lasting works, detailing both the writers' lives and their fictional creations. The author traces the development of the Western novel through biography, anecdote, summary, analysis and informed criticism, revealing the struggles and triumphs of the genre's authors, the changing standards of the frontier story and the lasting effects of the region's magisterial landscape.

Full Product Details

Author:   Stephen J. May
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   0.490kg
ISBN:  

9781476688985

ISBN 10:   1476688982
Pages:   269
Publication Date:   10 April 2023
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents Preface Author’s Note One. James Fenimore Cooper delete delete“The Transformative Power of Landscape” Two. Mark Twain and Bret Harte delete delete“The West Undone” Three. Owen Wister delete delete“The Cult of Western Manliness” Four. Andy Adams and Jack London delete delete“The Lure of the Wild” Five. Willa Cather delete delete“Our Ántonia” Six. Zane Grey, Max Brand, and Luke Short delete delete“The Fabulist Phenomenon” Seven. Edna Ferber and Laura Ingalls Wilder delete delete“So Big, So Little” Eight. Walter Van Tilburg Clark and A.B. Guthrie delete delete“From the ­Ox-Bow to the Big Sky” Nine. Jack Schaefer delete delete“A Few Good Riders” Ten. Edward Abbey and Charles Portis delete delete“The Defiant Ones” Eleven. Wallace Stegner delete delete“Explorations and Revolutions” Twelve. James A. Michener and Larry McMurtry delete delete“The Epic West” Thirteen. Cormac McCarthy delete delete“No Man’s Land” A Timeline of the Western Novel and Other Notable Works of the Frontier Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Stephen J. May a literary critic, biographer, essayist and novelist, is the author of 11 other books, including biographies of landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, Western author Zane Grey, railroad titan William Jackson Palmer, and Pulitzer Prize winning author James A. Michener. A former university educator, he has written extensively on how the West has shaped the American identity. He lives in Arizona.

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