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Summary
Summary
The American West. Just as America attracted millions to her shores by building upon a foundation of freedom, democracy, and a new start, the lands beyond the Mississippi would also attract people from all over the world with visions of opportunity and wide open spaces and provide America with legends and myths that have yet to die.
In "Westward," the history of the Old American West unfolds in twenty-eight original stories written especially for this unique collection that commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of Western Writers of America. Featuring stories handpicked by four-time Spur Award-winning author Dale L. Walker, "Westward "is a time capsule of the Old American West, from the first horse ever seen by a North American Indian to a man who escaped from the Alamo, from the massacre at Mountain Meadows to Libbie Custer's great secret, from the Apache wars to the California gold rush. And such luminaries of the West as Crazy Horse, Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, King Fisher, Doc Holliday, Belle Starr, John Wesley Hardin, and the one black man to accompany the Lewis and Clark expedition are brought to life in these colorful and dramatic tales.
Here, the ghosts of the Old West, some already there, others lured to that vast and trackless land of the setting sun, will talk to you in this volume of short stories to be treasured.
Includes new short fiction by:
Arthur Winfield Knight
Bill Crider
Bill Gulick
C. F. Eckhardt
Cotton Smith
Dale L. Walker
Dan Aadland
Don Coldsmith
Elaine Long
Emery L. Mehok
Ivon B. Blum
James Reasoner
Janet E. Graebner
John Jakes
John V. Breen
Lenore Carroll
Linda Sandifer
Loren D. Estleman
Matt Braun
Michelle Black
Otis Carney
Richard C. House
Richard S. Wheeler
Riley Froh
Rod Miller
Susan K. Salzer
Troy D. Smith
Win Blevins
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
Solid writing and richly varied subject matter make something special out of this anthology of 28 original stories, produced for the 50th anniversary of the Western Writers of America. Noting recent momentum toward "more authentic backdrops and more realistic plots and character" in traditional western tales, editor Walker (author of such expert popular histories as Bear Flag Rising, 1999, and Eldorado, 2002) has elicited from his contributors impressive reworkings of familiar material. The Lewis and Clark expeditions, for example, are the subject of Walker's own "York's Story" (about the expedition's lone black member: " . . . one who journeyed to the Western Sea and saw things no man of my color before me saw." The Civil War adventures of Confederate troops are depicted in Michelle Black's accusatory "The Hundred Day Men" and James Reasoner's blistering "Dead Man's Hollow"; the siege of the Alamo in John V. Breen's "A Man Alone"; Custer's Last Stand and after (as reported by the General's widow) in Susan K. Salzer's "Miss Libbie Tells All." Legendary figures make memorably vivid appearances: Oglala chieftain Crazy Horse (Janet E. Graebner's "The Whispering"); doomed gunslinger "Doc" Holliday (Arthur Winfield Knight's superb "The Big Die-Up"); and "mountain man" Jedediah Smith (Win Blevins's "Melodies the Song Dogs Sing") and Rocky Mountain trapper Jim Bridger (Richard C. House's splendid tall tale "Gabe and the Doctor"). A few stylistically undistinguished stories bespeak this hardy genre's pulp origins. But most are simply, starkly written and several have the heft and tang of classics-to-be: Don Coldsmith's wistful vignette ("First Horse"), about a young Indian "Dreamer's" first sighting of an "elk-dog" (i.e., a horse) that prophesies his culture's altering future; Ivon B. Blum's fictionalization of a notorious wagon-train massacre spearheaded by Mormon settlers ("Inquest in Zion"); and Richard S. Wheeler's dazzling reimagining of the life of pseudonymous frontier journalist "Dan DeQuille" ("The Square Reporter"). A marvelous collection that can only help make reading westerns respectable once again. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The Western Writers of America, an organization dedicated to excellence in the literature of the American West, is celebrating it fiftieth year in 2003. This collection of 28 original short stories by the current masters of the genre presents a unique chronological history of the West in fiction. It begins with Don Coldsmith's vision of the first horse ever seen by a Native American and concludes with Loren Estleman's interpretation of a western version of that staple of modern life, the political scam. In between are the last words of the man who shot John Wesley Hardin, Linda Sandifer's take on the subtle revenge of an outlaw's widow, and Matt Braun's account of a lone buffalo hunter. Other familiar contributors include Richard S. Wheeler, John Jakes, Bill Crider, and John V. Breen. The collection reveals both the vitality and the diversity of the western genre as well as the enduring appeal of the short story. This is a must for all fiction collections where westerns are popular. --Wes Lukowsky Copyright 2003 Booklist
Library Journal Review
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Western Writers of America, past president and four-time Spur Award winner Walker has compiled 28 original stories into a sequence that parallels the history of the American West. Lewis and Clark, Jedediah Smith, the Alamo, the California Gold Rush, the Civil War, Custer at the Little Bighorn, the Texas Rangers, and many another scene or personage from history appear in these tales by the best writers working in the genre today-Don Coldsmith, Bill Gulick, John Jakes, Lenore Carroll, Susan K. Salzer, and Loren D. Estleman. A person could pick up a lot of history reading these stories and be well entertained at the same time. Recommended wherever Western fiction is popular.-Ken St. Andre, Phoenix P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.