I'm looking for a western novel for my book club selection. What's the "best western novel ever written"?

Answer 1

Here's one group's opinion:
1. The Virginian by Owen Wister

2. The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter van Tilburg Clark

3. Shane by Jack Schaefer

4. The Big Sky by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

5. The Searchers by Alan Le May

6. Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

7. Paso por Aqui by Eugene Manlove Rhodes

8. Bugles in the Afternoon by Ernest Haycox

9. The Long Rifle by Stewart Edward White

10. Vengeance Valley by Luke Short

11. The Hell Bent Kid by Charles O. Locke

12. Cheyenne Autumn by Mari Sandoz

13. Destry Rides Again by Max Brand

14. Hondo by Louis L'Amour

15. The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter

16. Ride the Man Down by Luke Short

17. The Day the Cowboys Quit by Elmer Kelton

18. Stay Away, Joe by Dan Cushman

19. The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton

20. True Grit by Charles Portis

21. Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer

22. Flint by Louis L'Amour

23. From Where the Sun Now Stands by Will Henry

24. Hombre by Elmore Leonard

25. The Wonderful Country by Tom Lea

But I notice they don't include any of Cormac McCarthy's novels
(see 2nd link)
or any of Larry McMurtry's (see 3rd link)

and those two guys can REALLY write.

Answer 2

If "Lonesome Dove" is too long for the book club, then Larry McMurtry has also written a number of other novels set in the West. There's "Anything for Billy" or his first, "Horseman, Pass By," which was made into the movie "Hud" with Paul Newman.

I really like McMurtry. But I think Cormac McCarthy is way overrated.... Do you read detective novels, i.e. can you read Tony Hillerman?

Hey, if your book club can read nonfiction, I HIGHLY recommend and urge you to IMMEDIATELY READ the following book that reads like a novel: "The Captured," by Scott Zesch. It's the true story of kids captured by the Comanches and Apaches in Texas in the 1870s. See the below link for more info:

Answer 3

You have a lot of good suggestions. The only thing I'd suggest about the list in the first answer is that it seems overly influenced by subsequent movies of the books.

I'd suggest:

Number 1) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. (It reads quickly but may still be too long for your book group)
2) The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie;
3) The Virginian by Owen Wister (two classics);
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (a modern very well-recieved book -- violent);
4)The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilberg Clark (tale of posse chasing bandits / fromtier justice);
5)Little Big Man by Thomas Berger (sweeping western history in ironic / comic mode);
6)Hombre by Elmore Leonard (Leonard has written several westerns, mostly before he became famous writing hard-boiled modern books -- he writes cleanly, great dialogue, fast-moving plots -- I think there is less humor in his westerns);
7)Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven (you probably know the movie).

Among othe contemporary novelists you might also wish to consider Wallace Stegner, Thomas McGuane (set in the contemporary west -- not traditional westerns) and Tony Hillerman (mysteries among contemporary Indians, mostly Navaho.)

You may also want to consider non-fiction: Roughing It by Mark Twain; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown (history of treatment of American Indians)

Answer 4

I personally suggest the novels of Cormac McCarthy, a modern author whose trilogy "All the Pretty Horses", "The Crossing" and "City of the Plains" are set in the early 20th century Southwest. While he is not a 'tradional' Western author by any means he is a great writer and his books are amazing.

Answer 5

Three of my favorites are Gone to Texas, The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales and Meet Me on the Mountain by Forrest Carter. The last is a biography of Geronimo.

Answer 6

Anything by Zane Grey

Answer 7

Don't forget "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry