3-minute western for Christmas

This is a reading from Mollie Davis' 1899 novel, The Wire-Cutters. The scene described is a Christmas party at the home of one of the families living in a West Texas community. Country folks from all around  have gathered for dancing, a fried chicken dinner, and a boiled candy pull in the back yard.

Sleet has fallen the day before, and the trees are covered with glistening ice. The breath of the horses can be seen on the night air. Though it is cold, the front door is open, and inside there is a roaring fire. After the meal, the dance goes on to the music of a single fiddler. The young people step outside into the cold to grab handfuls of hot candy and pull it until it turns brittle in the cold air. It's a bit of Dickens on the Texas frontier.


3-Minute Western: The Wire-Cutters, "Christmas" from Ron Scheer on Vimeo.

Coming up: Top-ten lists for 2010

3-minute western: Whispering Smith

Time for another sample of a really old western. Hit play, and you can hear me this time reading the first pages of Frank H. Spearman's novel, Whispering Smith, which I reviewed here recently. It's another exciting beginning, as a railroad crew is being assembled to go clean up a train derailment.

It's 5:00 in the morning and Spearman captures the noise and the busy activity as men hurry about the operations center. These paragraphs are so packed with vivid detail, you can read them several times and still find more in them. We are then introduced to Sinclair, the boss of the crew. He is a big, bluff man quick to give orders and glad to be in charge.

The photos are all from 19th-century Colorado and Wyoming.


3-Minute Western: Whispering Smith from Ron Scheer on Vimeo.

Love that last exchange: "How many cars have you ditched this time?" "All I had."

Coming up: Frank Collinson, Life in the Saddle (1963)

3-minute western

Happy Thanksgiving for everyone celebrating the holiday. For something different, I've put together a video I'm calling a "3-Minute Western" (suitable for timing your soft-cooked eggs). Thanks to Patti Abbott, who gave me the idea for something like this in the first place.

Hit play, and you can hear my midwestern twang as I read the first two pages of Zane Grey's novel, The Heritage of the Desert, which I reviewed here recently. It's a thrilling beginning, as a man at the point of death hears two men debating the pros and cons of saving his life.


3-minute western: Zane Grey, "The Heritage of the Desert" from Ron Scheer on Vimeo.

Enjoy your holiday! Hope you're with family and friends and folks you care about.

Coming up: Dan O'Brien and Nebraska writers