Western Non-westerns

I've noticed that I frequently mention books that are set in the American West. I finally realized I love this setting when a friend of mine requested recommendations that were not American. At first I was embarrassed. I must be terribly single minded. How simple and silly of me to love American books so much.

Then I realized Duh. Of course I love books about America. America is great. It is a sweeping landscape full of hope, personal explorations, soaring vistas and plenty of tragedy. Here are a few more authors and titles that deal with the west that I love.

Kent Haruf. This author is tremendous. He has a quiet tone and good stories. The stuff he writes about, family tragedies, loneliness, are sad, but I have such a glad feeling when I think about Plainsong or The Tie that Binds. When looking up Kent Haruf, I just noticed there is a sequel to Plainsong called Eventide --I can't wait!


Larry Mc Murtry He is quite prolific but has some misses along with his hits. Best is Lonesome Dove which I'm planning to re-read someday. Two men, Call and Gus set out from a lonely Texas town on a cattle drive to Montana. It's a great novel and a prototypical western, disqualifying it from this list. Read it anyway.

McMurtry also wrote The Last Picture Show it is set in mid-twentieth century Texas and focuses on the coming of age of a couple of teenage boys. I recommend The Last Picture Show above the two books that follow it, they aren't quite as good and TLPS stands on it's own nicely.

All of these Larry McMurtry books have been made into movies or mini-series. The Lonesome Dove miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones was very good, I caught it on cable recently.

Steinbeck. I mentioned The Grapes of Wrath. You pretty much can't go wrong with Steinbeck, but East of Eden is maybe on top. Although critics don't, I love Cannery Row (not a western). It has great characters and kind of a homey quality. If home is living near fish factories and whorehouses.

Annie Proulx (pronounced approximately Prew) wrote That Old Ace in the Hole Set in Texas. It has her traditional almost comic names, and odd trajectories of people's lives. I found it to be enjoyable, almost as much as I liked The Shipping News. (Which I loved but is set in Newfoundland and therefore does not qualify for this list. I also totally liked the movie of the Shipping News starring Kevin Spacey.)

Louise Erdrich Plague of Doves. This is a kind of twisty and slightly confusing book dealing with reservation families and white families over the course of the last century. I am not too familiar with Louise Erdrich, but I liked this book and have gathered the impression that she writes powerfully about the west and reservations and the like.

I feel like I'm forgetting something...

ACK! How could I forget My Antonia and O Pioneers! by Willa Cather? These are portraits of immigrants in Nebraska making a new life and an impact on the land. Excellent reading. I re-read these pretty regularly. I am looking forward to checking out The Song of the Lark which I somehow missed during my Willa Cather phase.


Books I have mentioned previously on this blog and that are set in the American West but not necessarily westerns are here:

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger