Soon
after English settlement of North America began, “the West” has been
romanticized in literature, song, and popular culture. The romanticization continues into the
present. Consider the popularity of
western movies and television shows and the western imagery used in advertising
and art. And it’s not just Americans who
take interest in the American West.
Several years ago, when I was traveling in the Czech Republic, Austria,
and Germany, I saw Marlboro Man-like images on bus stops, posters, and in store
displays. It seemed that when
advertisers wanted to invoke images of the US, their go-to image was the
cowboy. In parts of eastern Europe, people participate in Old West reenactments
like we attend Renaissance fairs. In
Aufenfeld Austria, there is a spa
in which the saunas and massage rooms have Wild West Themes.
The
western image even contributed to the fall of communism. In the first free elections held in communist Poland, held in 1989, labor
union/political faction Solidarity used an image of Gary Cooper from “High
Noon” on posters .
Current
novelists continue to write about the American West, and the best incorporate
great history into their works. If you’d
like to read some exciting novels and learn along the way, you should explore
the novels of Tony Hillerman, Craig Johnson, and Larry McMurtry.
Tony
Hillerman passed away in 2008, after having written over 30 fiction and
nonfiction books. He’s most famous for the 18 crime novels following the
adventures of Navaho Tribal Police (NTP) detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Not only are the NTP novels great detective
stories, full of quirky and interesting characters, but they are also chock
full of information about the Southwest and about the cultures therein: Navaho, Hopi, Pueblo, Anglo, and Hispanic.
The mysteries are always full of rich and accurate cultural details. The first NTP novel is The Blessing Way,
and you can read them in order, but it’s not necessary.
Craig
Johnson, a Wyoming novelist, has so far written 11 novels and numerous stories
featuring a Wyoming sheriff named Walt Longmire, and his work has been made
into a television series. Longmire is
your typical troubled detective story hero.
He drinks too much, and that’s just one of the many problems that plague
his personal and romantic lives. He’s
surrounded by an eccentric and endearing cast of characters who live in an
exceedingly harsh environment. Professionally, he finds himself mixed up in
elaborate and often extremely violent crimes that he solves with the help of
Henry Standing Bear, his friend since childhood, and a Cheyenne. Longmire’s jurisdiction straddles the Crow
and Cheyenne reservations, so the reader is immersed in Crow and Cheyenne
culture and history. The Cold Dish
is the first Longmire title. Johnson
tells great stories about great characters and also injects a great deal of
humor.
Larry
McMurtry has also seen a number of his works turned into television and feature
events, and he has also written highly acclaimed screenplays himself “Terms of
Endearment” and “Brokeback Mountain” for example. His most famous western work is probably Lonesome
Dove, the story of ex-Texas Rangers on a long drive from Texas to new homes
in Montana. He also wrote about strong
frontier women in Buffalo Girls and Telegraph Days. I also enjoyed Streets of Laredo, Comanche
Moon, and The Last Kind Words Saloon. His western non-fiction includes Crazy Horse: A Life, The Colonel and Little Missie:
Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley & the Beginnings of Superstardom in America,
Oh What A Slaughter! : Massacres in the American West: 1846—1890,
and Custer.
So, whether you’re starting or just
fueling your own romance with western novels, here are three authors you should
check out.
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