Description
Book SynopsisThe story of western literature is the story of two Wests, the one immediately and deeply persuasive, the second more complex in its intentions and effects. This anthology, gathered and introduced by distinguished western scholar Thomas J. Lyon, offers a panoramic literary range of the American west, from the romance of the mythic Wild West to the present-day creative explosion of the real, diverse west. The regional expanse of this authoritative and adventuresome selection of short stories, essays, plays, and novel excerpts stretches from the Great Plains, Texas and the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin interior, to California and the Northwest. Including selections from Pedro Font, Meriweather Lewis, Willa Cather, James Fenimore Cooper, Owen Wister, Zane Grey, John Muir, Tillie Olsen, Rick Bass, Amy Tan, Sarah Winnemucca, and N. Scott Momaday, among others, the volume is organized in five main sections: Discovery and Exploration, Pioneering and Settlement, The Mythic
Trade Review"Distinguished western scholar Thomas J. Lyon, in editing The Literary West, has compiled an impressive array of writings on the American West, past and present....Lyon's introduction is uncommonly helpful as it presents a summary of writings west of the Mississippi, from the conquistadors to the Lone Ranger and beyond."--Texas Globe "Excellent selection of texts....The introduction by Dr. Lyon is absolutely superb--as is the Western Chronology. These two items really, 'make' the book! One could buy the book just for those!"--Dr. Denis Fournier, University of Mary "A powerful, well-made tool, one students and general readers alike can handle without feeling burdened or intimidated by length and one that provides specialists with plenty of reference material, not to mention as easy grip on both past and present. In the end, few informed readers will be able to argue with Lyon's judgments or his knowledge, much less with his refreshing willingness to take chances.. The Literary West is definitely a book made to last."--The Bloomsbury Review "No one has a better grasp of Western Literature and its relationship to the authentic history of the West than Thomas Lyon."--Stewart Udall "A tantalizing overview of western American literature from the sixteenth century to the present....A culturally and historically significant literary collection."--Booklist
Table of ContentsIntroduction:The Conquistador, the Lone Ranger, and Beyond A Western Chronology, With 200 Significant Titles Kathlamet Chinook (oral tradition) "The Sun's Myth" Pedro Font[Ventura to Santa Barbara in 1776], from Pedro Font's Diary Lewis and Clark[North Dakota journals from the spring of 1805], from The Journals of Lewis and Clark John Muir"Through the Foothills with a Flock of Sheep," from My First Summer in the Sierra Clarence Dutton"The Valley of the Virgen," from Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District Sarah Winnemucca from Life Among the Piutes Hamlin Garland"Under the Lion's Paw," from Main Traveled Roads Owen Wister from The Virginian Mary Austin"My Neighbor's Field," from The Land of the Little Rain Jack London"All Gold Canyon," from Moon-face and Other Stories Zane Grey from Riders of the Purple Sage Willa Cather from O Pioneers! from My Antonia Dorothy Scarborough from The Wind Robinson Jeffers "Granite and Cypress" "Tor House" "November Surf" "Gray Weather" "Signpost" "The Answer" Luther Standing Bear"Nature," from Land of the Spotted Eagle John SteinbeckChapters 1, 2, and 3, from The Grapes of Wrath A.B. Guthrie, Jr. Chapters 31 and 32, from The Big Sky Jack SchaeferChapter 1, from Shane Frank Waters"Hopi Ceremonialism," from Masked Gods Jose Antonio Villarreal from Pocho William Stafford "In Response to a Question" "Speaking Frankly" "Representing Far Places" "Montana Eclogue" N. Scott Momaday"Introduction" to The Way to Rainy Mountain Al Young"Dancing," from Dancing Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. HoustonChapter 4, from Farewell to Manzanar Edward Abbey"The Great American Desert," from The Journey Home Wallace StegnerPart 2, chapter 5, from Recapitulation Sam Shepard "True West" Rudolfo Anaya"B. Traven Is Alive and Well in Cuernavaca," from The Anaya Reader Gary Snyder "Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout" "Marin-An" "Anasazi" "Magpie's Song" "True Night" Gretel Ehrlich"On Water," from The Solace of Open Spaces Louis L'AmourChapter 16, from Last of the Breed Denise Chavez"The Last of the Menu Girls," from The Last of the Menu Girls May Swenson "The Centaur" "The Poplar's Shadow" "Camping in Madera Canyon" Charles Bowden"Afterword" from Frog Mountain Blues Amy Tan"Waverly Jong: Rules of the Game," from The Joy Luck Club Terry Tempest Williams"Snowy Plovers" from Refuge William Kittredge"Reimagining Warner," from Heart of the Land Rick Bass"Days of Heaven," from In The Loyal Mountains Barbara Kingsolver"Why I Am a Danger to the Public," from Homeland and Other Stories Linda Hogan"Creations," from Heart of the Land Guide to Further Reading
