Best Stories of the American West, Volume I

by Marc Jaffe (Editor)

Overview

Here is a collection of the best contemporary short stories of the American West by a diverse group of writers, young and old, male and female, well-known and not-so-known. And for the first time there appears, side-by-side, the work of so-called "traditional" Western writers, such as Max Evans, Elmer Kelton, and Elmore Leonard, and the "literary" contingent, represented by William Kittredge, Valerie Miner, and Luis Alberto Urrea.
Taken together, these twenty-two stories, five appearing for the first time in print, create an unparalleled picture of an enormously complex region and a gallery of memorable characters and human conflicts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765310903
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/15/2008
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

MARC JAFFE, an editor and publisher—for eighteen years Editorial Director at Bantam Books—has had decades-long experience with writing of the West, beginning with his first job in publishing as Western Editor at New American Library.

Editorial Reviews

Wyatt Earp was a lousy lover but a very shrewd judge of people. You'll learn that in Owen Wister Award winner Richard S. Wheeler's "Hearts." Some Indians can play basketball—PEN/Malamud Award winner Sherman Alexie shows us that in "What Ever Happened to Frank Snake Church?" There are 18 more fine stories in editor Jaffe's collection, by such big-name writers as Elmore Leonard, William Kittredge, and Elmer Kelton. But don't be fooled—this is not a book of Western stories. Here, you're just as likely to meet a pilot, a deep-sea fisherman, or a redneck as you are a gunslinger like Earp. Jaffe's theme is not really "the West"; rather, it's loss. Every story is about losing someone or something—family, friends, innocence, faith. A fine collection of American short stories good for larger fiction collections everywhere; this shouldn't be put with the Westerns.
—Ken St. Andre

Library Journal