**The appeal of Westerns by Joyce Saricks**

This information was provided as part of the [[discovering_westerns_at_the_metcalfe_readers_advisory_seminar_23_march_2016|2016 readers' advisory seminar]].

**Appeal of Landscape Genres** 
(Westerns, Fantasy, Historical Fiction)
  * Settings—whether real or imagined—and background details matter 
  * Often slower paced to accommodate extensive details and world building
  * Stories may build on historical characters or events or retell familiar
  * tales 
  * Timeless—or out-of-time quality. Don’t date as quickly; classics remain
  * popular.

**WESTERNS**
**Why Read Westerns?**
  * Useful crossover for some historical fiction fans
  * Great stories—adventure, exploration, gunslingers, pioneers 
  * Represent the past of both our countries so there’s a guaranteed market
  * Westerns in the US
  * Are set west of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers from end of Civil War
  * (1865) until 20th century
  * Offer a feel of the Old West rather than the details of Historical Fiction
  * Feature cowboys, scouts, Indians, settlers, and lawmen 
  * Explore the clash between civilization and anarchy in mythic stories of men 
  * and the land.
  * Share similarities with Australia: terrain, aborigines, settling the unsettled
  * areas
**
The Appeal of Westerns**
**Frame/Setting:**
Rich in landscape descriptions with setting lyrically and evocatively described
but also treacherous
  * Elmer Kelton (Hard Trail to Follow), Matt Braun (Dakota), C. J. Box (Off the Grid), Annie Proulx (Close Range: Wyoming Stories)
**Characterizations:**
  * Stories feature mythic heroes and real historical characters. 
  * Women may be secondary in traditional westerns but play a larger role in recent titles. 
  * Often stereotypical good/bad.
  * Jack Schaefer (Shane), Loren D. Estleman (Aces and Eights), Molly Gloss (The Hearts of Horses), Jo-Ann Mapson (Blue Rodeo), Larry McMurtry (Comanche Moon)

**Story Lines:**
  * Story lines often place hero in a morality play; he brings justice and restores order.
  * Other themes include survival in a harsh environment, the redemptive power of the west, revenge, and coming of age.
  * Max Brand (Destry Rides Again), Zane Grey (Riders of the Purple Sage), Leif Enger (Peace Like a River), Michael Punke (The Revenant), Stephen Overholser (Night Hawk)

**Pacing:**
  * Pace depends on storyline. Adventure moves story more quickly; description slows the pace. These are stories of the westward expansion and there’s a sense of forward movement.
  * Louis L’Amour (Sackett’s Land), Loren D. Estleman (Hombre)

**Style/Language:**
  * Colorful but spare language. 
  * Often rich in jargon.
  * Reminiscences and diaries sometimes tell these stories.
  * Even poetry
  * Nancy E. Turner (These Is My Words), Charles Portis (True Grit), Thomas Berger (Little Big Man), Banjo Paterson (Man from Snowy River), Robert Service (Dan McGrew, Sam McGee)

**Tone/Mood:**
  * Often a nostalgic tone, celebrating past times.
  * Humor may also play a role.
  * Think: cowboy songs
  * Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian), Seth McFarlane (A Million Ways to Die in the West), Larry McMurtry (Sin Killer)

**Classic Westerns:**
**Elmer Kelton**
  * Sure Bet
  * Character-centered
  * Historically accurate
  * Texas settings
  * Characters placed in realistic settings rather than action

**Louis L’Amour**
  * Revived Westerns
  * Action-packed tales of adventure and survival
  * Strong heroes fighting for justice 
  * Lives on in reprints and audiobooks (especially with David Strathairn reading!)

**Ivan Doig**
  * Homesteaders, not cowboys
  * Western Montana setting
  * Lyrical writing
  * Sense of place and love of the land

**More Classics**
  * Robert B. Parker (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch series)
  * Don Coldsmith (Trail of the Spanish Bit series)
  * Owen Wister (The Virginian)
  * Jack Schaefer (Shane)
  * A. B. Guthrie (Western Saga)
  * Alan Le May (The Searchers)


**Authors to Know:**
**Johnny D. Boggs**
  * Action and adventure
  * Vividly drawn characters, including Indian protagonists
  * Unusual settings
**Loren D. Estleman**
  * Known also for Detroit Mysteries
  * Single title westerns about Western figures and Page Murdock series
  * (Mystery blend)
  * Solid research
  * More elegant writing
  * Gritty 
  * Details of western landscape, external and internal
**Joe Lansdale**
  * Dark, gritty, quirky and offbeat tales
  * Fast paced adventures 
  * Well-drawn characters
  * Witty style
  * Also writes award-winning mysteries and horror
**Larry McMurtry**
  * De-romanticizes the West, historical and contemporary
  * Vivid characters, including woman
  * Strong sense of time and place
  * Lyrical prose
  * Often nostalgic, melancholy tone
  * Sweeping, cinematic tales
  * Leisurely paced 
  * Western Nonfiction
**Richard S. Wheeler**
  * Prolific with multiple series
  * Frontiersmen and settlers
  * Real historical figures
  * Character-centered
  * Richly detailed settings
  * Compelling stories

**Crossover/Genre Blends**
  * Historical Fiction (Etta by Gerald Kolpan, The First Mountain Men by William W.
  * Johnstone, Doc by Mary Doria Russell, All Together in Our Place by Jane
  * Kilpatrick, Gunman’s Rhapsody by Robert B. Parker)
  * Mystery (Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith) 
  * Romance (A Wanted Man by Linda Lael Miller)
  * Inspirational (Throw the Devil off the Train by Stephen Bly)
  * Horror (Hell’s Bounty by Joe Lansdale)
  * Fantasy (Territory by Emma Bull)
  * Science Fiction (Empress of Mars by Kage Baker and Firefly) 


**Ultimate Blend**
Patrick DeWitt’s The Sisters Brothers--Western, Literary, 
Crime Thriller, Historical, Black Humor

**Trends in Westerns**
  * Modern “Western” (Michael McGarrity, C. J. Box, William Kent Krueger,Jo-Ann Mapson, Leif Enger)
  * Reprints of Older Westerns (Louis L’Amour)
  * TV shows on DVD (Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Tombstone, Wagon Train, as well as Ken Burns’ series, The
West), and movies (Stephen King’s The Dark Tower and Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight)
  * “Adult” Westerns
  * Explicit sex and violence
  * Less concern for Western setting and themes
  * Covers reveal whether “traditional” or “adult” (Jake Logan, Tabor Evans, Jon Sharpe, Clay Dawson, Wesley Ellis)

**Web Resources**
  * Western Writers of America www.westernwriters.org
  * Western Fictioneers http://www.westernfictioneers.com
  * Western Authors: http://westernauthors.com (This is a great place to go to introduce yourself to authors, genre categories, and genre issues)
  * Use their links to explore more: http://westernauthors.com/Links.htm 

**Awards**
  * Spur awards from Western Writers of America http://westernwriters.org/spur-awards/#a2012
  * Western Heritage awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
  * http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/events/wha/wha_winners.aspx
  * Peacemaker awards from Western Fictioneers
  * http://www.westernfictioneers.com/2010-peacemaker-awards.php

**Literary Westerns**
  * Peter Carey (True History of the Kelly Gang)
  * Annie Proulx (Close Range)
  * Larry McMurtry (The Last Kind Words Saloon)
  * Mary Doria Russell (Epitaph)
  * Philipp Meyer (The Son)
  * Ivan Doig (English Creek)
  * Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men)
  * Lin Enger (The High Divide)


Joyce Saricks / saricksj@gmail.com / March, 2016