Holiday, this is a little background info for you and others of us who enjoy reading contemporary novels of the Old West.
The Western
Americas interest in the West was probably influenced by the appearance of tales of adventure in the dime novels of the 1860s. In these romantic stories the cowboy was elevated to hero. One the most popular authors was Ned Buntline, whose work laid the foundation for western fiction.
With the appearance in 1920 of The Virginian by Owen Wister, the western genre was established. By then, the cowboy was disappearing from the American scene, and the romantic figure was even more appealing. Wister also introduced several other memorable characters, including the villain, the gambler, and the love interest, a school teacher. They became stock characters in the novels and the films that followed.
The next year, in The Log of a Cowboy, Andy Adams described a trail drive from Mexico to Montana. Told simply and less dramatically, it was nonetheless popular and influential in the development of the new genre. Adams injected details that rang true, especially in his descriptions of places and real people like Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp.
One interesting aspect of the development of the western genre is the fact that most of the authors were easterners. Ned Buntline wrote almost all his novels before he ever went west. Owen Wister, a Philadelphian, was a Harvard graduate. Andy Adams, born in Indiana, was an easterner who went to Texas, worked in a ranch and, eventually, became a trail driver. The western writer was an exception. (Source of above info -
http://www.jalon.net/tiraraina/sel.php3?titulo=The%20Western )
If youve made it this far, then you might also enjoy reading some of the
earlier western novels. Theyre on-line, and theyre free.
Zane Grey, A master of the Western genre.
http://www.blackmask.com/page.php?do=page&cat_id=134Bret Harte, New York-born author who put California on the literary map, famed for his "Luck of Roaring Camp." Friend to Mark Twain, first editor of the Overland Express.
http://www.blackmask.com/page.php?do=page&cat_id=463William MacCloud Raine, British-born novelist, grew up in Arkansas, wrote books of a Western genre.
http://www.blackmask.com/page.php?do=page&cat_id=202 Frederick Faust, Author who wrote under the pen name of Max Brand, and created numerous Westerns, as well as Dr. Kildare.
http://www.blackmask.com/page.php?do=page&cat_id=501Dime Novels (what started it all)
http://www.blackmask.com/page.php?do=page&cat_id=225Enjoy.
Hamp
