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From the Desk of Duncan Smith: A Very American Genre
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Growing up on my family's farm, many evenings were spent in front of our black and white TV set keeping up with Marshall Dillon, Miss Kitty, and the adventures of the Cartwright family. Everything changed in 1966, however, when Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones, and Scotty came into my life. Suddenly, the hard-won truths of the past were no longer as interesting as the promises of the future.
Several of the articles in this issue of RA News talk about the bad rap that Westerns have gotten over the years. As I read them, I had to re-evaluate my thinking about westerns and -- to paraphrase Mark Twain -- I soon realized that the rumors of the genre's death are greatly exaggerated. This is especially true in my own reading life. I was amazed at how many of the western titles mentioned in this issue are ones I have read -- and loved -- over the years. Last year alone, one in ten books I read could be classified as a western. While I am still a Star Trek fan (loved "Into the Dark!"), at this stage of my life, it seems that the truths western stories reinforce are a bigger part of my story landscape than I thought.
I hope reading these articles on this very American genre leads you into new understandings about your reading too.
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In This Issue
- Weird Westerns
- Around the Web
- Romance in the Old West
- NoveList Bookshelf
- Spurred to Greatness
- Westerns Aren't Dead
Featured Awards
NoveList tracks two awards that recognize distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur Awards and the Western Heritage Awards.
Just For Fun
Check out the Book Club board on Pinterest. More than 450 contributors pin their favorite adult and young adult book jackets here.
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by Tara Bannon Williamson
The Weird Western is a compelling combination of the classic western genre plus elements from the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Popular films representative of the genre that have captured imaginations include Serenity, Wild Wild West, and Cowboys and Aliens. Graphic novels, like the one Cowboys and Aliens was based on, provide another rich source of Weird Westerns; Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steven Dillon and The Sixth Gun series by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt are other examples. Less well-known are...
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Each month Jessica Zellers adds a few items to your web-surfing itinerary. Take a look at these lists, articles, reviews, and the best of new RA materials and advice.
Last week, I downloaded the audiobook of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr. A finalist for the Pulitzer in 2011, it promised insights into the impact of internet technology upon human behavior, at the personal level as well as the societal level. Within the first hour or two of listening, I had the gist of Carr's thesis: our brains are rewiring themselves to rapidly process small bits of information from many sources, instead of...
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by Shelley Mosley
When a reader picks up a western romance novel, they have certain expectations about the characters and plot lines within. Are they looking for the gun-toting hero to wear spurs and a white hat? Should the heroine be plucky and determined to save the family ranch she just inherited? The following types of westerns will help you reign in what your reader wants:
- Traditional historical western romances. There's a well-defined line between good and evil: good guys are really good, and bad guys are really bad. The cowboy hero, usually a man of few words, is strong and loyal, rides a horse, wears chaps, and carries a gun. The heroine is usually...
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Here's what a few NoveList staffers (and one contributor) are reading this month!
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by Mike NilssonThe western has long been both loved and loathed. The genre is loved for its life-affirming qualities of independence, strength, loyalty, and industry while it is equally loathed for its cartoonish and simple-minded endorsement of violence. The genre is also condemned for perpetuating the ugly stereotypes of subservient women, savage Indians, and entitled white men pursuing a virtuous Manifest Destiny. Innumerable westerns...
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by Lauren Havens
Perhaps you've noticed that a Louis L'Amour book isn't as popular a checkout item as it once was. While it is true that novels falling into the strictly "western" category may not be flying off the shelves, aspects of the western are popping up in a variety of other genres.By strict definition, a western novel takes place in the American Old West, in the latter half of the 19th century, when the wilderness needed to be tamed, justice had to be fought for, and heroes had to fight for what they believed in. This untamed environment was filled with...
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