Top 5 Best Western Reads

[MtnElk]

we've had a thread on best Western flicks... how about books? (Fiction / Non Fiction)

***Selfishly asking because I need new book ideas***

 

[Irrelevant]

Define western...

 

[BackofBeyond]

Define western...

Here comes the Proulx recommendation, which is a good rec.

 

[MtnElk]

Define western...

Making me work for it; I guess I would define it as anything to do with the west, settling the west, animals of the west, conflicts surrounding the west, etc in the form of fiction or non fiction.

Much like the movies brought forth by the other thread.

I’ve started reading the Longmire series, and have Lonesome Dove on the way after my dad recommended it. But looking for more ideas

 

[Scott85]

The sacketts.

 

[Hem]

No particular order.

Thomas McGuane
Jim Harrison
Richard Ford
A.B.Guthrie
Cormac McCarthy
James Welch ****
Ivan Doig
Annie Proulx
Norman Maclean
Edward Abbey
Rick Bass

Keith McCafferty( light reading)

More than 5 if you truly are interested.

 

[Irrelevant]

Making me work for it; I guess I would define it as anything to do with the west, settling the west, animals of the west, conflicts surrounding the west, etc in the form of fiction or non fiction.

Much like the movies brought forth by the other thread.

I’ve started reading the Longmire series, and have Lonesome Dove on the way after my dad recommended it. But looking for more ideas

Fiction:
Angle of Repose
Lonesome Dove
Dalva
River Runs Through it

Tangential:
Grapes of Wrath
The Cheechakos

Non-Fiction:
Great Wyoming Bear Stories
Great Montana Bear Stories
Beyond the 100th Meridian
Dangerous River
Cadillac Desert
Desert Solitaire
A Tough Trip Through Paradise

 

[BackofBeyond]

Dancing at the Rascal Fair - Doig
Desert Solitaire - Abbey
English Creek - Doig
Lonesome Dove - McMurtry
Really, I can’t think of a book by those three that I didn’t like - liked some more than others, but not a dud in the batch.

 

[Southern Elk]

Short reads…
A River Runs Through It
Legends of the Fall

Ridgeline

The first 2 CJ Box Pickett books

Undaunted Courage

Big Sky

 

[TheGrayRider]

 

[hank4elk]

Elmore Leonard
LL
TR
McMurtry
Abbey

 

[BackofBeyond]

Elmore Leonard
LL
TR
McMurtry
Abbey

Elmore Leonard! Another great one.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Call me Francis Tuckett by Gary Paulsen and the others in the series would be a fun read with your daughter.

 

[Beignet]

I’ll go the nonfiction route. Not the best nor definitive, but these popped in my head:

Across the Wide Missouri
Empire of Shadows
Indian Creek Chronicles
Undaunted Courage
Under the Banner of Heaven

 

[jabber]

Anything by Louis L'Amour

 

[Scott85]

The best nonwestern western IMO is haunted mesa.

 

[Beignet]

Been meaning to read the Milagro Beanfield War. That on anyone’s list?

 

[Sheltowee]

All of mine are non-fiction but highly, highly recommend in no particular order:

1. Young Men and Fire by Norman MacLean (Mann Gulch fire)
2. Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (The Comanche Wars)
3. The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick (Battle of the Little Bighorn)
4. Hell on a Fast Horse by Mark Lee Gardner (Billy the Kid)
5. Fur, Fortune, and Empire by Eric Jay Dolin (Mountain Men/the fur trade)

Credit where it is due: Shoutout to @Southern Elk and @Nameless Range for their thread on hiking Mann Gulch and book recommendation: https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/mann-gulch-hike.319719/

 

[noharleyyet]

Berger's Little Big Man is a classic picaresque.

Been meaning to read the Milagro Beanfield War. That on anyone’s list?

Yes, one of John T Nichols's NM trilogy...1976. 1978, 1981

 

[Beignet]

Berger's Little Big Man is a classic picaresque.

Yes, one of John T Nichols's NM trilogy...1976. 1978, 1981
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I’ve actually owned them all for a bit and finally started “Milagro” last night. Enjoying it so far!