The Literary West
An Anthology of Western American Literature
Published on 27. May 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
460 pages
978-0-19-512461-3 (ISBN)
Description
The story of western literature is the story of two Wests, the one immediately and deeply persuasive, the second more complex in its intentions and effects. This anthology, gathered and introduced by distinguished western scholar Thomas J. Lyon, offers a panoramic literary range of the American west, from the romance of the mythic Wild West to the present-day creative explosion of the real, diverse west. The regional expanse of this authoritative and adventuresome selection of short stories, essays, plays, and novel excerpts stretches from the Great Plains, Texas and the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin interior, to California and the Northwest.
Including selections from Pedro Font, Meriweather Lewis, Willa Cather, James Fenimore Cooper, Owen Wister, Zane Grey, John Muir, Tillie Olsen, Rick Bass, Amy Tan, Sarah Winnemucca, and N. Scott Momaday, among others, the volume is organized in five main sections: Discovery and Exploration, Pioneering and Settlement, The Mythic West, Modernism and the Realistic West, Recent and Contemporary Currents, and The Native West. From the projective "Great Frontier" of dime-store novels to the real west brought to light by sixteenth century explorers, mid-nineteenth century realists and naturalists, and todays environmentalists and ethnic writers, The Literary West offers students a comprehensive overview of the vital field of Western American literature.
Including selections from Pedro Font, Meriweather Lewis, Willa Cather, James Fenimore Cooper, Owen Wister, Zane Grey, John Muir, Tillie Olsen, Rick Bass, Amy Tan, Sarah Winnemucca, and N. Scott Momaday, among others, the volume is organized in five main sections: Discovery and Exploration, Pioneering and Settlement, The Mythic West, Modernism and the Realistic West, Recent and Contemporary Currents, and The Native West. From the projective "Great Frontier" of dime-store novels to the real west brought to light by sixteenth century explorers, mid-nineteenth century realists and naturalists, and todays environmentalists and ethnic writers, The Literary West offers students a comprehensive overview of the vital field of Western American literature.
Reviews / Votes
"Distinguished western scholar Thomas J. Lyon, in editing The Literary West, has compiled an impressive array of writings on the American West, past and present....Lyon's introduction is uncommonly helpful as it presents a summary of writings west of the Mississippi, from the conquistadors to the Lone Ranger and beyond."--Texas Globe"Excellent selection of texts....The introduction by Dr. Lyon is absolutely superb--as is the Western Chronology. These two items really, 'make' the book! One could buy the book just for those!"--Dr. Denis Fournier, University of Mary
"A powerful, well-made tool, one students and general readers alike can handle without feeling burdened or intimidated by length and one that provides specialists with plenty of reference material, not to mention as easy grip on both past and present. In the end, few informed readers will be able to argue with Lyon's judgments or his knowledge, much less with his refreshing willingness to take chances.. The Literary West is definitely a book made to
last."--The Bloomsbury Review
"No one has a better grasp of Western Literature and its relationship to the authentic history of the West than Thomas Lyon."--Stewart Udall
"A tantalizing overview of western American literature from the sixteenth century to the present....A culturally and historically significant literary collection."--Booklist
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
1 line drawing
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
644 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-512461-3 (9780195124613)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Thomas J. Lyon is Professor Emeritus of English at Utah State University and former President of the Western Literature Association.
Content
Introduction:The Conquistador, the Lone Ranger, and Beyond
A Western Chronology, With 200 Significant Titles
Kathlamet Chinook (oral tradition)
"The Sun's Myth"
Pedro Font[Ventura to Santa Barbara in 1776],
from Pedro Font's Diary
Lewis and Clark[North Dakota journals from the spring of 1805],
from The Journals of Lewis and Clark
John Muir"Through the Foothills with a Flock of Sheep,"
from My First Summer in the Sierra
Clarence Dutton"The Valley of the Virgen,"
from Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District
Sarah Winnemucca
from Life Among the Piutes
Hamlin Garland"Under the Lion's Paw,"
from Main Traveled Roads
Owen Wister
from The Virginian
Mary Austin"My Neighbor's Field,"
from The Land of the Little Rain
Jack London"All Gold Canyon,"
from Moon-face and Other Stories
Zane Grey
from Riders of the Purple Sage
Willa Cather
from O Pioneers!
from My Antonia
Dorothy Scarborough
from The Wind
Robinson Jeffers
"Granite and Cypress"
"Tor House"
"November Surf"
"Gray Weather"
"Signpost"
"The Answer"
Luther Standing Bear"Nature,"
from Land of the Spotted Eagle
John SteinbeckChapters 1, 2, and 3,
from The Grapes of Wrath
A.B. Guthrie, Jr. Chapters 31 and 32,
from The Big Sky
Jack SchaeferChapter 1,
from Shane
Frank Waters"Hopi Ceremonialism,"
from Masked Gods
Jose Antonio Villarreal
from Pocho
William Stafford
"In Response to a Question"
"Speaking Frankly"
"Representing Far Places"
"Montana Eclogue"
N. Scott Momaday"Introduction" to
The Way to Rainy Mountain
Al Young"Dancing,"
from Dancing
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. HoustonChapter 4,
from Farewell to Manzanar
Edward Abbey"The Great American Desert,"
from The Journey Home
Wallace StegnerPart 2, chapter 5,
from Recapitulation
Sam Shepard
"True West"
Rudolfo Anaya"B. Traven Is Alive and Well in Cuernavaca,"
from The Anaya Reader
Gary Snyder
"Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout"
"Marin-An"
"Anasazi"
"Magpie's Song"
"True Night"
Gretel Ehrlich"On Water,"
from The Solace of Open Spaces
Louis L'AmourChapter 16,
from Last of the Breed
Denise Chavez"The Last of the Menu Girls,"
from The Last of the Menu Girls
May Swenson
"The Centaur"
"The Poplar's Shadow"
"Camping in Madera Canyon"
Charles Bowden"Afterword"
from Frog Mountain Blues
Amy Tan"Waverly Jong: Rules of the Game,"
from The Joy Luck Club
Terry Tempest Williams"Snowy Plovers"
from Refuge
William Kittredge"Reimagining Warner,"
from Heart of the Land
Rick Bass"Days of Heaven,"
from In The Loyal Mountains
Barbara Kingsolver"Why I Am a Danger to the Public,"
from Homeland and Other Stories
Linda Hogan"Creations,"
from Heart of the Land
Guide to Further Reading
A Western Chronology, With 200 Significant Titles
Kathlamet Chinook (oral tradition)
"The Sun's Myth"
Pedro Font[Ventura to Santa Barbara in 1776],
from Pedro Font's Diary
Lewis and Clark[North Dakota journals from the spring of 1805],
from The Journals of Lewis and Clark
John Muir"Through the Foothills with a Flock of Sheep,"
from My First Summer in the Sierra
Clarence Dutton"The Valley of the Virgen,"
from Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District
Sarah Winnemucca
from Life Among the Piutes
Hamlin Garland"Under the Lion's Paw,"
from Main Traveled Roads
Owen Wister
from The Virginian
Mary Austin"My Neighbor's Field,"
from The Land of the Little Rain
Jack London"All Gold Canyon,"
from Moon-face and Other Stories
Zane Grey
from Riders of the Purple Sage
Willa Cather
from O Pioneers!
from My Antonia
Dorothy Scarborough
from The Wind
Robinson Jeffers
"Granite and Cypress"
"Tor House"
"November Surf"
"Gray Weather"
"Signpost"
"The Answer"
Luther Standing Bear"Nature,"
from Land of the Spotted Eagle
John SteinbeckChapters 1, 2, and 3,
from The Grapes of Wrath
A.B. Guthrie, Jr. Chapters 31 and 32,
from The Big Sky
Jack SchaeferChapter 1,
from Shane
Frank Waters"Hopi Ceremonialism,"
from Masked Gods
Jose Antonio Villarreal
from Pocho
William Stafford
"In Response to a Question"
"Speaking Frankly"
"Representing Far Places"
"Montana Eclogue"
N. Scott Momaday"Introduction" to
The Way to Rainy Mountain
Al Young"Dancing,"
from Dancing
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. HoustonChapter 4,
from Farewell to Manzanar
Edward Abbey"The Great American Desert,"
from The Journey Home
Wallace StegnerPart 2, chapter 5,
from Recapitulation
Sam Shepard
"True West"
Rudolfo Anaya"B. Traven Is Alive and Well in Cuernavaca,"
from The Anaya Reader
Gary Snyder
"Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout"
"Marin-An"
"Anasazi"
"Magpie's Song"
"True Night"
Gretel Ehrlich"On Water,"
from The Solace of Open Spaces
Louis L'AmourChapter 16,
from Last of the Breed
Denise Chavez"The Last of the Menu Girls,"
from The Last of the Menu Girls
May Swenson
"The Centaur"
"The Poplar's Shadow"
"Camping in Madera Canyon"
Charles Bowden"Afterword"
from Frog Mountain Blues
Amy Tan"Waverly Jong: Rules of the Game,"
from The Joy Luck Club
Terry Tempest Williams"Snowy Plovers"
from Refuge
William Kittredge"Reimagining Warner,"
from Heart of the Land
Rick Bass"Days of Heaven,"
from In The Loyal Mountains
Barbara Kingsolver"Why I Am a Danger to the Public,"
from Homeland and Other Stories
Linda Hogan"Creations,"
from Heart of the Land
Guide to Further Reading