Great Western Short Stories, The Morrow Anthology Of
by By Tuska, Jon (EDT) and Piekarski, Vicki (EDT)
Category: Fiction , Westerns

These stories - many of which have not been seen since they were originally published in pulp magazines like Western Short Story, Adventure, or Ace High - reflect a defining aspect of the Western experience: the freedom to choose one's own road, and the willingness to sacrifice comfort, companionship, and safety to follow that road. Whether it is the solitary cattleman in Ernest Haycox's "Deep in This Land," struggling against the elements and his own loneliness, or The Shifter in Max Brand's "The One-Way Trail," trying to escape his outlaw past, the characters who populate these stories are dedicated to the possibility of change and aware of how difficult that change can be.One of the ironies of Western fiction's place in our culture is that it is perceived as "men's fiction." But women made and continue to make a significant contribution to this genre, and this collection highlights some of their best work. Though often forced to disguise their sex through ambiguous pen names, women writers such as B. W. Bower, Honore Willsie Morrow, and Vingie E. Roe mastered the art of the Western short story and made it their own.The stories in this collection represent not only some of the finest writing in the Western genre but also some of the best fiction in American literature. They capture the sunburnt essence of the Frontier, from the Rio Grande to the Rocky Mountains, and are reminders of a time when opportunity was as wide as the horizon.