These books were booktalked at the January 11, 2005 meeting of the MLS Readers Advisory S.I.G.

What we learned:

These books often carried a sense of loss: a loss of old ways, a loss of the buffalo, a loss of the wilderness. There was often a theme of the old west vs. the new, or the passing of the old west for the new. Because of vast distances, the harshness of the landscape, and the extremes of weather, the land itself often acted as a character. We found an independent streak in characters in New England novels and eccentricity in characters in Southern novels. In novels set in the West, the characters were independent loners, often completely self-sufficient and capable of ruthless behavior. Good guys were ruthless when they needed to be; bad guys were just ruthless. Characters in western novels are often escaping the restraints of the East or civilization. Many characters were ex-Civil War soldiers, from both sides, escaping what they saw as the destruction and loss of the war.

Westerns could be as formulaic and romanticized as any romance novel. One participant referred to them as "men's romances." Westerns, or other novels set in the west, could also be spare and unsentimental. Racism existed toward Native Americans and Mexicans, but unlike other marginalized groups, there was often a respect and admiration for Indian culture. Humor was not a prevalent element in these books. There was sometimes humor in the books we read, but it was seldom a primary ingredient. Humor was often of a rough and ready sort.

Authors other than those we read include Cather, Rolvaag, and Moberg for their stories of pioneer hardships; Mildred Walker for both her skill evoking landscape and the subtleties of personal relationships; and Glendon Swarthout (The Homesman) and Douglas C. Jones (from Arkansas), for their realistic, un-romanticized stories of frontier life. Classic writers of the west include Steinbeck and Stegner. Other modern writers of the west are Larry Watson and Ivan Doig.

What we read:

Prairie Widow, by Harold Bakst, 1992
Jenny Vandermeer is dragged out to a Kansas homestead by her husband, who promptly dies of a fever. Jenny did not want to leave her comfortable Ohio home, and now here she is alone on her homestead, living in a dugout with two young children. First time author Bakst portrays the sense of community that people new to the prairie foster amongst themselves as Jenny's neighbors rally around and convince her to stay. Even in the face of a prairie fire, brutal winter, and the arrival of grasshoppers, Jenny learns to love the subtle beauty of the prairie. Adult or YA.
Nancy Bent, LaGrange Public Library

Ghost Town, by Robert Cover, 1989
This is not your mother's ghost town, nor is it like any book you have read. Coover upends the western tradition with a spectral town that moves back and forth in time, peopled with no-name cowboys, saloon madams and schoolmarms. All of the western stereotypes and action are parodied by this postmodern master, but a familiarity with the genre is necessary to be in on the jokes. Strong language. Recommended for sophisticated readers who are looking for something different. A "pulp fiction" western anyone?
Susan Ruffolo, Oak Park Public Library.

Run River, by Joan Didion, 1963
Didion is a fifth-generation Californian descended from a Donner party survivor, and the history and romance of westward migration suffuses her imagination and her writing. In this debut novel set in contemporary Sacramento Valley, a marriage between the great-grandchildren of pioneers disintegrates into violence and loss. Didion writes superb prose, and she claims California and myths of California the way Faulkner does Mississippi. Highest recommendation to all adult readers and those looking for a different spin on a "western" story.
Susan Ruffolo, Oak Park Public Library.

Perma Red, by Debra Magpie Earling, 2002
This is the story of Louise White Elk and her life on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana in the 1940s. Louise faces abject poverty, want and prejudice. She is the love object of two men, tribal officer Charlie Kicking Woman and stubbornly tribal Baptiste Yellow Knife. This book gives a strong sense of place, but the characters are more lyrical images than real people. More for readers of Cormac McCarthy than Larry McMurtry. Adult.
Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie Public Library.

The Master Executioner, by Loren Estleman, 2001
Oscar Stone, as a teenaged Union soldier, witnesses a terrible and unwarranted hanging of four Confederate soldiers. Returning to Pennsylvania, Oscar trains to be a master carpenter. He moves his new wife to Kansas to help build the new country, but the only job he can get is building the town gallows. This leads Oscar into his new career, as a master executioner, traveling the west to professionally send criminals off efficiently into the great beyond. Oscar loses his wife and spends thirty years as a pariah who takes pride in professionally executing his job without thought to its rightness or wrongness. This is a dark story suited to more thoughtful readers.
Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie Public Library.

These Thousand Hills, by A. B. Guthrie, 1956
In this unsentimental look at life in the 1880s American west, 20-year-old Lat Evans leaves Oregon to join in a cattle drive to Montana. Wanting to escape his restricted life with his religious, stern father and protective mother, he embraces life on the trail with an assortment of hard cowboy types. When they reach Montana, Lat decides to stay and work toward a ranch of his own. He falls hard for Callie, who entertains men at Miss Fran's place, but gives her up when their relationship threatens to destroy his reputation and therefore his ambitions. Full of fascinating details about trapping, cattle drives, and dealing with local Indians, this is an enjoyable portrayal of an imperfect young man and his reach for his dreams. Adult.
Debbie Darwin, LaGrange Public Library.

The Blessing Way, by Tony Hillerman, 1970
On the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police must solve a series of murders involving rumors of witchcraft. Native American ceremonies and traditions are clearly depicted in this engrossing story, which contains tense scenes of action as well as lovely descriptions of the land. This is the first of Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn mysteries. Adult/YA.
Debbie Darwin, LaGrange Public Library.

Sacred Clowns, by Tony Hillerman, 1993
Navajo Tribal Policeman Joe Leaphorn teams up with his younger colleague, Jim Chee, to solve two murders that seem to be linked. Hillerman includes many details about Navajo, Hopi and other Native American cultures, although the book's Tano Indian Pueblo setting was invented using elements from various tribes. Modern Indians still suffer from harsh lives of poverty and the ravages of alcohol (which is constantly criticized here), but Hillerman does manage to insert some humor. I had a little trouble at first getting a handle on the setting (Arizona and New Mexico, the Navajo Reservation) and working out the way Tribal Police, the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and regular city and state police intersect on the Reservation. This is part of a long-running and popular series.
Jennie Milojevic, Riverside Public Library.

Slaughter, by Elmer Kelton, 1992
About a decade after the Civil War, buffalo hunters have nearly destroyed the great herds. Two storylines follow a Comanche warrior and his fears for the buffalo and loss of a way of life, and a group of buffalo hunters made up of ex-Confederate and Union soldiers, a black man, a young woman, and a wayward Englishman. Good solid storytelling. Followed by The Far Canyon. Adult/YA
Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie Public Library

Sackett, by Louis L'Amour, 1961
This classic western, by a classic writer, starts with a bang and doesn't let up. Will Tell Sackett has to kill a man who draws on him during a card game--the man was cheating--and finds himself a marked man. As he makes his way through the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico he finds a Spanish gold mine, founds a town, and rescues a young woman--not to mention the numerous gunfights that happen along the way. In spare language, LAmour sweeps the reader into Sackett's world, where we find we really care about his laconic hero. Made into feature film "The Sacketts." Adult/YA (violence, but no sex)
Nancy Bent, LaGrange Public Library.

The Law at Randado, by Elmore Leonard, 1954
Kirby Frye, 25, returns to his hometown in Randado, AZ to serve as deputy sheriff and prove himself. While he is out tracking suspects, the townsmen of Randado take the law into their own hands and hang two drifters for stealing cattle from the town's wealthiest rancher. When Kirby returns, he tries and fails to restore law and order. With the help of his mentor, the Pima County Sheriff, and an old friend, Apache Dandy Jim, Kirby ultimately uses his intellect to bring the guilty to justice. The story emphasizes patience and careful attention to the rugged landscape as the keys to tracking down the bad guys and bringing them in. There isn't a lot of macho gunslinging filling the pages--Kirby uses his gun only as a last resort. Kirby's respect for Dandy Jim allows him to learn skills from the Apache that ultimately lead to his success. This is a quick read, so there isn't a lot of attention paid to Native American culture or character development, but the details that are included are well chosen and interesting. Readers shouldn't expect to find much about the female experience here either. I never thought I would even like a western, but I have to admit, this was a great story. Adults and YA
Jennie Milojevic, Riverside Public Library.

The Resort, by Bentley Little, 2004
When the Thurman family books a five-day vacation at The Reata, an exclusive resort oasis in the middle of the Arizona desert, they are expecting luxury and the vacation of a lifetime. They enjoy all the amenities until the Reata's darker side begins to show itself. Drunken orgies, torture, and nightmare visions plague them, yet something--whether car trouble or a spell which causes them to forget they are in danger--prevents them from leaving. Slowly, the background of the Reata is revealed. It is under the control of the undead original settlers of the area, occultists looking to escape the laws and social conventions of more populated areas. Most of the staff at the Reata have aligned themselves with the undead in the hopes of achieving immortality. As the guests are pitted against each other in deliberately cruel and deadly sports events, the undead feed on the violence, which strengthens them. The Thurman family, with no one to trust but one another, is forced to fight other guests and the undead in order to escape. The hostile desert setting is essential to isolate unsuspecting victims and make the evil possible. This is a great modern horror tale, with smart and resourceful characters and an interesting use of the themes found in many novels set in the west. Adults/Mature YA (Graphic Language/Violence/Adult Situations)
Jennie Milojevic, Riverside Public Library.

All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac MCarthy, 1992
In the late 1940s, two teenagers, John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, leave their Texas homes and head to Mexico for adventure. John Grady's parents are estranged, his father is dying, and his mother is selling the family ranch that John Grady believed he would one day inherit. The boys' journey on horseback is intended to provide them with a traditional cowboy's life, and they do find jobs on a Mexican ranch. However, their fateful encounter with another young traveler, Jimmy Blevins, and John Grady's relationship with the hacendado's daughter combine to bring them more trouble than they could have imagined. Harrowing scenes of violence and cruelty blend with gorgeous descriptions of the land, horses, and ranch life in this story of the coming-of-age of two loyal friends. This book won the National Book Award in 1992. Adult/YA.
Debbie Darwin, LaGrange Public Library.

Horseman, Pass By, by Larry McMurtry, 1961
Pulitzer Prize winner (for Lonesome Dove) McMurtry's first novel was written when he was 25. A novel that pits the values of the old west against the morals of the new west, Horseman takes place in 1950s Texas. Lonnie is torn between the decent, hardworking grandfather on whose ranch he is being raised, and the unscrupulous Hud, his grandfather's stepson. These two strong characters have radically different ideas about the future of the ranch, and things come to a head when all the cattle must be destroyed during an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease. McMurtry portrays lonesomeness and dissatisfaction with "the way things are" as well as any author, living or dead, terrific! Made into the feature film "Hud." Adult/YA (some sex).
Nancy Bent, LaGrange Public Library.

The Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter, 1953
Richter wanted this story of a Colonial-era white boy abducted and raised by Indians to "give an authentic sensation of life in early America." And while the book does offer breathtaking images of nature and the Indian way of life, it is also profoundly biased against white society, as shown in the inevitable clash of the two cultures. When at last the boy is forcibly returned to his natural parents he finds their home, clothing, language, and values repulsive. This, though, the universal struggle for identity and of allegiance, is what lifts the book above Richter's rather obvious manipulations and gives it its timelessness. A boy on the cusp of manhood cries, "Who is my father?" and must define for himself the meaning of family, loyalty, friendship, and love. Recommended for adults and young adults who enjoy reading historical fiction.
Susan Ruffolo, Oak Park Public Library.

Sea of Grass, by Conrad Richter, 1936
The last days of the Old West are played out in 19th century New Mexico when a range war pits a cattle baron against federally backed settlers. The story takes a surprise twist with the introduction of a love triangle that unravels a family with its tragic betrayals. Simply told, beautiful prose, powerful characterizations of male role models; suitable for readers of all ages.
Susan Ruffolo, Oak Park Public Library.