The Literary West: An Anthology of Western American Literature / Edition 1

by Thomas J. Lyon

Overview

This anthology, gathered and introduced by distinguished western scholar Thomas J. Lyon, offers the 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 real West has been written about since first contact in the sixteenth century, in the diaries of explorers ranging from Franciscan missionary Pedro Font to Lewis and Clark. A Native American tradition of cultural expression preceded European settlers by thousands of years, and today a contemporary Native renaissance in fiction includes writers N. Scott Momaday and Linda Hogan. The naturalist John Muir stands at the beginning of a lineage of western nature writers, and successors including Mary Austin, Edward Abbey, and Rick Bass have raised ecological awareness of the West.
Over the past century, there has also been a tremendous drive in western fiction to cut through the mythology spread by the "dime novels" that gained popularity in the 1860s; Owen Wister's The Virginian and Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage presented a simplified and heroic West that would hold sway in the public imagination until serious novelists like Willa Cather, John Steinbeck, and Wallace Stegner established a shadow country to the mythic frontier. Today, works coming from ethnic minority writers including Amy Tan, Denise Chavez, and Rudolph Anaya have helped bring the real, diverse West to light. This authoritative and adventuresome collection shows why the West has occupied such a prominent place in the national consciousness, and reveals that western writers may currently be mapping out a significant development in American thought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195124613
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/20/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	460
Sales rank:	832,449
Product dimensions:	8.53(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.18(d)
Lexile:	1120L (what's this?)

About the Author

Thomas J. Lyon is Professor Emeritus of English at Utah State University and former President of the Western Literature Association.

Table of Contents

Introduction:A Western Chronology, With 200 Significant TitlesKathlamet Chinook (oral tradition)Pedro FontLewis and ClarkJohn MuirClarence DuttonSarah WinnemuccaHamlin GarlandOwen WisterMary AustinJack LondonZane GreyWilla CatherDorothy ScarboroughRobinson JeffersLuther Standing BearJohn SteinbeckA.B. Guthrie, Jr.Jack SchaeferFrank WatersJose Antonio VillarrealWilliam StaffordN. Scott MomadayAl YoungJeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. HoustonEdward AbbeyWallace StegnerSam ShepardRudolfo AnayaGary SnyderGretel EhrlichLouis L'AmourDenise ChavezMay SwensonCharles BowdenAmy TanTerry Tempest WilliamsWilliam KittredgeRick BassBarbara KingsolverLinda HoganGuide to Further Reading

Editorial Reviews

Lyon's gathering of nearly 50 essays, short stories, poetry, and even a play, plus parts of novels, is a most imaginative look at the West of the mind and the West of place.
— Dallas Morning News

Lee Milazzo

For readers seeking a good introduction to the literature of the West with a preference for high-minded representations over popular ones, The Literary West is a good place to start.
— ForeWord Magazine

Erik Bledsoe