Best Reads (And They Aren't All Westerns)
Western writers share the books that most influenced their lives and craft.
By: TW Editors 07/01/2007
Matt Braun is best known for The Kincaids, which won the 1976 Spur Award and depicts the settlement of Oklahoma, the ruthless treatment of the Five Civilized Tribes and the birth of the oil industry. All 54 of his novels are still in print, including one adapted for a CBS miniseries and another for a TNT movie. He is currently researching a novel set in Texas during the 1880s.
Lonesome Dove
Larry McMurtry
This is the best novel ever written on the American West. I have read the book once a year since it was published in 1985. Like vintage wine, it just grows better with age.
W.E.B. Griffin
I enjoy any of his historical novels on the military, as he is the finest storyteller of the generation. I have read many of his books three or four times. He always tells a helluva story with a unique style.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Dee Brown
The finest book ever written about the plight of Indians. If this book doesn’t make you weep, then you need to have a sawbones check your tear ducts. Dee captured tragedy on the printed page.
The Big Sky
A.B. Guthrie
This is a masterpiece about Mountain Men and the land. A.B. Guthrie granted permission for me to quote passages from The Big Sky in my book How to Write Western Novels. Writers learn best from reading the masters.
Cheyenne Autumn
Mari Sandoz
This is a heart-rending story depicting the courage and beliefs of a people. I wish I’d had the good fortune to meet Mari Sandoz; she knew the Cheyenne like no other writer.
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