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Western Writers
Three Icons of the Western Genre
Top Ten Western Books
The Western Heritage in Literature
Academic Nonsense About the American West
Owen Wister
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister was one of the first mass-market bestsellers. The 1902 novel received immediate critical acclaim and was hugely popular, eventually spawning five films, a successful play, and a television series. An instant success, it sold over 20 thousand copies in the first month, an astonishing number for the time. It went on to sell over 200,000 thousand copies in the first year, and over a million and a half prior to Wister's death. This Western classic has never been out of print. (You can read my book review, "The Virginian, A Classic Western Revisited" at Ezine Articles.)
One of the First Mass-Market Bestsellers
Owen Wister's Virginian Would Not Approve
The Virginian—The Inspiration for The Steve Dancy Tales
Frederick Faust (Max Brand) was one of the most prolific writers of all time, publishing nearly thirty million words in his lifetime. Faust had more pennames than Destry had bullets. (In the film, Destry Rides Again, based on the Faust character, James Stewart famously shoots his Colt seven times.) He wrote more than 500 novels and short stories—all with two fingers on a manual typewriter. In his day, Faust was one of the highest paid writers in the world.
Frederick Faust, aka Max Brand
Zane Grey
Zane Grey was an athlete, avid fisherman, and a lifelong philander. Grey was introverted and remained somewhat antisocial his entire life. Oh yeah, he was also a writer. In fact, he wrote his first story at age fifteen.
Zane Grey Defined a Genre
Louis L'Amour
If your name was Louis L'Amour and you wrote about men tougher than nails, would you adopt a penname?
Louis L'Amour, The Read Deal
Hondo by Louis L'Amour
Mark Twain
Mark Twain knew the real West as few other authors. His memoir, Roughing It, tells about his experiences as a newspaper reporter in Virginia City when it was as rough as any cow town and six-guns were always at the ready.
Best Western Writer of All Time?
Favorite Western Writer
Mark Twain on Heroes
Mark Twain Tells us How to Write
Jack Schaefer
Shane is one of my favorite Western films. The Jack Schaefer book is also one of my favorite Western novels. There are great films and there are great books, but Shane is a rare instance where both the book and film are distinguished in their own right. The movie is an honest rendition of Schaefer’s story, while artfully making adjustments for a visual presentation of a novel.
The Complex Lives of Common People
Patrick deWitt
Non-Western Writers
Jane Austen
Jane's Fame, How Jane Austen Conquered the World
Raymond Chandler
Other Authors
Which bestselling writer is on American currency?
Best Selling Author of All Time?
Can Novelist see the past better than historians?
Frederick Faust (Max Brand) was one of the most prolific writers of all time, publishing nearly thirty million words in his lifetime. Faust had more pennames than Destry had bullets. (In the film, Destry Rides Again, based on the Faust character, James Stewart famously shoots his Colt seven times.) He wrote more than 500 novels and short stories—all with two fingers on a manual typewriter. In his day, Faust was one of the highest paid writers in the world.
Frederick Faust, aka Max Brand
Zane Grey
Zane Grey was an athlete, avid fisherman, and a lifelong philander. Grey was introverted and remained somewhat antisocial his entire life. Oh yeah, he was also a writer. In fact, he wrote his first story at age fifteen.
Zane Grey Defined a Genre
Louis L'Amour
If your name was Louis L'Amour and you wrote about men tougher than nails, would you adopt a penname?
Louis L'Amour, The Read Deal
Hondo by Louis L'Amour
Mark Twain
Mark Twain knew the real West as few other authors. His memoir, Roughing It, tells about his experiences as a newspaper reporter in Virginia City when it was as rough as any cow town and six-guns were always at the ready.
Best Western Writer of All Time?
Favorite Western Writer
Mark Twain on Heroes
Mark Twain Tells us How to Write
Jack Schaefer
Shane is one of my favorite Western films. The Jack Schaefer book is also one of my favorite Western novels. There are great films and there are great books, but Shane is a rare instance where both the book and film are distinguished in their own right. The movie is an honest rendition of Schaefer’s story, while artfully making adjustments for a visual presentation of a novel.
The Complex Lives of Common People
Patrick deWitt
deWitt has mastered an entertaining style and it makes the
story much more enjoyable than a pedestrian account of oftentimes mundane
events.
Non-Western Writers
Jane Austen
Jane's Fame, How Jane Austen Conquered the World
Raymond Chandler
Other Authors
Which bestselling writer is on American currency?
Best Selling Author of All Time?
Can Novelist see the past better than historians?
Articles About Writers
15 Famous Authors on Why They Write
And Writers Say ...
Authors Acting Badly Toward Other Authors
15 Famous Authors on Why They Write
And Writers Say ...
Authors Acting Badly Toward Other Authors