David Cranmer over at Beat to a Pulp Press has just announced publication of Vol. 2 of my book series, How the West Was Written. It continues the chronology of western writers that began in the first volume with Mary Hallock Foote's The Led-Horse Claim (1883). Here is a short description of the new volume from its introduction:
During the years
1907–1915, frontier fiction boomed with new writers, and the success of Owen
Wister’s The Virginian (1902) began to make itself felt in their work. That
novel had made the bestseller lists for two years running. With the continued
popularity of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show, and the appearance of one-reeler
westerns on movie screens, many featuring the adventures of Bronco Billy
Anderson, the cowboy hero was becoming an established mythic figure in the
public imagination.
New writers capitalizing on this interest begin to emerge in numbers and include Zane Grey, Dane Coolidge, Charles Alden Seltzer, William MacLeod Raine, and Eugene Manlove Rhodes. Fans of cowboy westerns will find this book's
Meanwhile, for writers of
popular fiction, the frontier was also a subject for exploring ideas drawn from
current public discourse—ideas about character and villainy, women’s rights,
romance and marriage, democracy and government, capitalism, race and social boundaries,
and the West itself. With each new publication, they participated as well in an
ongoing forum for how to write about the West and how to tell western stories.
Taken together,
the chapters of this book describe for modern-day readers and writers the
origins of frontier fiction and the rich legacy it has left us as a genre. It
is also a portal into the past, for it offers a history of ideas as preserved
in popular culture of a century ago that continues to claim an audience today.
Congratulations, Ron! I am glad you're getting this all published as it will be a help to others interested in the genre and region.
ReplyDeleteWay ahead of ya Ron - I ordered my copy this morning from amazon. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is great news Ron. I'll be ordering my copy also.
ReplyDeleteMany congratulations, Ron! I have the Kindle edition of Vol.1 and I'll be picking up Vol.2 soon. Look forward to reading it as well.
ReplyDeleteThese are great reference sources, man.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great accomplishment, Ron. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteAdd my congratulations. I'll be picking up a copy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a legacy! Two copies making their way to France as we speak. Congratulations Ron!
ReplyDeleteI believe this will be the standard work on early western fiction. I am looking forward to volume three.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed Vol. 1 and looking forward to reading the second one.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Ron, on this wonderful accomplishment! I'll be adding #2 to the shelf with Volume 1 and refer to both over the years to come. Thank you for an enormous contribution about and for Western writers.
ReplyDeleteAs I said about volume 1, I think this is important for the study of how the mythologizing of the west through western fiction evolved.
ReplyDeleteI just bought vols. 1 and 2. Looking forward to reading them.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I can't wait to read them!
ReplyDeleteI,too, will be ordering my volumes and look forward to reading them. Thank you for all your contributions to helping a city girl, like myself, understand and know more about the West, cowboys and how the wild frontier worked.
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