Western Books

[Yellowhead]

OH haha  I didn't see the "Insert Photo" button there. Thanks much!

[cigar joe]

"The American West"-The Pictorial Epic of a Continent by Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg


I highly recommend this book to those of you who enjoy illustrations or artist representations from the Old American West.
It's basically a compilation of newspaper articles, paintings, wanted posters, and other photos dating back from the early 1600s to the early 1900s.
It's a fantastic book, really.

I had this one years ago, in the 1960's, I enjoyed it a lot.

[johnk]

I remember reading the Dollar seies books many years ago. I refer to Coffin full of dollars,milliondollar bloodhunt etc.....and what puzzled me that the main protananist was always discribed with the features of Lee Van Cleef in all the books.......Bit odd unless there was intention to get him the parts on film.
Anybody else think this was odd ??

[Tex]

I thought I would throw a few more novels into the mix. CJ, mentioned McCarthy's Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain), and I would easily put those has my favorites, especially The Crossing.

Blood Meridian is another, grittier, McCarthy novel.


Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a classic, and an award winner to boot.


And finally, the Josey Wales stories. I read somewhere that Carter actually wrote the book with Eastwood in mind.

[titoli]

A slim volume (170 pages) divided into 2 parts: the first  one is a general overview of the genre, the second is dedicated to the analysis of a handful of exemplary movies. The author doesn't adopt the jargon of many smart-aleck pseudo-commentators but he's quite readable and never trivial. Lots of informations and reflections and even some good photos. Recommended to those who can read italian. 8\10

[titoli]

This recent Camilleri's true crime release reads, actually, like a sort of sicilian western (it is said explicitly in the book itself and the author himself called it a "western" in the interviews). I don't think it will be translated in english (apparently only Montalbano's misteries are thought to be worth the effort, wrongly) but I wouldn't be surprised to watch a movie transposition of this story about a family fighting an armed war against mafia in the '20s. 8\10 

[titoli]

This is a collection of 25 biographies of western actors, mostly active before or just after WWII: published in 1976. Now, it is worth noting that you don't find biographies of major figures like Fonda or Ford, but you can find Lee Van Cleef! And SW is considered positively, as a hail back to more realistic flicks. I didn't know, or had forgotten, BTW, that Sinatra didn't play Dirty Harry because of a hand injury.

[drinkanddestroy]

I've heard that there were other factors in Sinatra not getting the Dirty Harry role, including his preference that the movie be shot near his Palm Springs home.

[titoli]

A good survey of the genre by themes with lots of original musings. 8/10

[noodles_leone]

ENCYLOPEDIE DU WESTERN



I got this for christmas. It's by Patrick Brion, whose well documented and illustrated CLINT EASTWOOD and MARTIN SCORSESE books I've owned for years. I don't always agree with him but his heart is on the right side.

[drinkanddestroy]

ENCYLOPEDIE DU WESTERN



I got this for christmas. It's by Patrick Brion, whose well documented and illustrated CLINT EASTWOOD and MARTIN SCORSESE books I've owned for years. I don't always agree with him but his hearth is on the right side.

Looks cool 

[dave jenkins]

Yeah, it does. 

[cigar joe]

 

[titoli]

A classic, though dated, survey of the James Gang and the Wild Bunch vicissitudes. Still good for the Cassidy and Sundance story, though. 8/10

[titoli]

A completely invented story about some western outlaws figures, which some had the grit to compare to True Grit. It is good reading, but hardly a masterpiece like Portis'. 7/10