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Reading Rescue, September 2006: Westerns
By Anne Allen and Mary Anne Fulmer
 When
you think of a good Western book or movie, a vivid picture comes to
mind. Most often you think of large ranches with cattle and cowboys or
barren land with tumble weeds. The men and women are rugged and, in some
instances, very wealthy. McLintock is a western about a large
cattle baron. The movie has it all, including saloon fights, Indians,
young love, and gun fights. John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara are, without a
doubt, are an unbeatable combination. They have the roles of McLintock
and his estranged wife. The movie is action packed as well as having
some great comedy scenes. If you like Westerns, this is a must see
movie.
Clint Eastwood in Outlaw
Josie Wales plays the role of a Missouri farmer whose wife and son
are murdered by renegade Yankees. After the Civil War, the men in Wale's
unit surrender to the Yankees, that is, everyone but Josie. The Yankees
execute the men and put a price on Josie's head. This movie is a thrill
a minute! Josie does kill several men, but he always makes it seem
almost the thing to do by splattering their dead foreheads with tobacco
juice or uttering another of his famous lines. One message of this movie
is that Josie actually achieves complete vengeance by resuming a normal
life after the pain of war.
The Cowboy Way is
another good example of an excellent Western movie. Pepper and Sonny,
champion riders from New Mexico, are ready to gallop their way into New
York. Their hog tying, roping, and riding skills come in handy in the
Big Apple. Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland make this action/comedy
well worth watching. The pair travel to New York to find a missing
friend, a girl who is being held hostage by sweat-shop operators, and
there is trouble at every turn. Help comes their way in the form of
Officer Sam "Mad Dog" Shaw who gets a kick out of playing a cowboy. This
is ultimately a story of friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, and courage.
Janet Dailey writes some excellent books using a Western
theme. She wrote the saga of the Calders. Calder Storm is the
ninth entry in the series. Trey Calder, fifth generation handsome heir
to Triple C Ranch, falls for sexy photographer Sloan Davis, and he
brings her home to the family ranch. Everything is fine until Trey
discovers Sloan has kept a secret about her past. In the meantime, all
of the Calders face increasing danger from a man with a score to settle
with the family. Ms. Dailey keeps the action going along with juicy
romantic scenes. She also gives vivid description of big sky country.
You will keep on turning the pages and enjoying every page.
In 2005, Janet Dailey takes us away from Montana.
Lone Calder Star takes place in Texas at the ranch of the first
Calder ancestor, Seth. Lawman Clint Echohawk travels from Montana to
Texas to manage and investigate. Sparks fly between Clint and Dallas, a
waitress/student. No Calders are killed in this book, but the plot is
well-paced and keeps you reading. This book will take you back home if
you are a fan of the earlier Calder saga books. Please visit the library
to see what other Dailey books are on the shelves!
Another enjoyable adventure western is Blood Debt
by S.J. Stewart. Shad owns a ranch, and Nat works for him. Nat becomes
critically ill, and Shad feels he has the responsibility to find Nat's
sixteen-year-old son who has runaway from home. The adventure takes
place five years after the Civil War. Shad and his friend Abe struggle
to find Toby (Nat's son) and along the way, they encounter desperate men
whose time in the war has made them bitter. They have a propensity for
violence. On its face, this seems like a typical good guy who out thinks
and out shoots the bad guys, but it is more. Stewart keeps it fast paced
and crisp. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Dorothy Garlock, author of Train from Marietta,
writes a very satisfying Depression-era romance. Rugged westerner Tate
meets beautiful Katherine, a New Orleans native, in west Texas. Kate is
a nurse who is on her way to California to work for her uncle. On the
way, she gets kidnapped by two desperate outlaws. Tate is hired by her
uncle to find her. Tate has a handicapped, willful daughter who gets
tangled in the rescue and, of course, she doesn't like Kate. But all's
well that ends well, even in dusty Texas.
Robert B. Parker's Appaloosa is fast paced, and
his writing style is highly engaging. The characters are fascinating,
insightful, and each has to work out an ethical dilemma. In this story,
two lawmen, Virgil and Everett, are hired by the aldermen of Appaloosa
because the town is being terrorized by an evil-minded rancher named
Randall Bragg. Bragg and his men have already murdered the Marshall and
have taken over the town. The men do catch him, and he is sentenced to
hang. On the way, he escapes with the help of hired gunmen. This, of
course, leads to a gunfight. There is a love interest with a dangerous
woman. Read this book to find out what happens.
Larry McMurtry's Telegraph Days takes place in
1876. This story gives a little different perspective of the West. He
creates a West of the dime novels and Wild West Shows, of
bigger-than-life characters, more like the era of Cat Ballou than Clint
Eastwood. The heroine is a lady -- Nellie Cartwright, a very forward
young lady. She is twenty-two, kissable, and independent, in other words
-- a bit of a lady of the night! Nellie and her seventeen-year-old
brother are orphans. They have little time to mourn the loss of their
family before they rush off to the nearest town. Nellie talks the
sheriff into hiring her brother, and she takes a job in the telegraph
office. Nellie and her brother are barely settled when six Yankees
murder the sheriff and are about to club them. Nellie tells her brother
to shoot. He kills the Yankees and becomes the biggest hero for the
whole West. Buffalo Bill Cody wants to hire him, but the boy's shooting
skills desert him. Cody hires Nellie. She goes all over the West. This
is a fun read!
These are just a small assortment of the great Westerns
available in the library. We have them in books, regular and large
print, movies, DVDs, CDs, and audio books. Try one.
The Friends of the library will host a book sale from
November 9th through the 15th. Also the Friends are selling hand-blown
Christmas ornaments that are available now.
As always, if you have suggestions or comments, please
e-mail mfulmer@pennlib.org or
better yet, come in and see us. Remember Fall Reading is from September
11 - November 20. Come in and sign-up and receive a raffle ticket for a
DVD player. There are quite a few prizes and you get a raffle ticket
toward one each time you read a book in one of the five categories.
Happy reading, and we are looking forward to seeing you!
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