Todd Mason reviewed this book a little over a month ago here. As Todd mentioned, all the stories in this collection are worth reading. My favorites are “AT Yuma Crossing” by Brian Garfield, “Take a Left at Bertram” by Chad Oliver, “A Bad Cow Market,” by Elmer Kelton, and “The Bandit,” by Loren D. Estleman. I was able to obtain The Best of the West through library loan, but it’s also available for affordable prices on the Internet. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
At Yuma Crossing · Brian Garfield · ss *
Take a Left at Bertram · Chad Oliver · ss *
The Second Kit Carson · Gary Paulsen · ss *
Night of the Cougar · Ardath Mayhar · ss *
Jasper Lemon’s Ba Cab Ya Larry · Lee Schultz · pm *
Stoned on Yellow · LoLo Westrich · ss *
Making Money in Western Banking · Jeff Banks · ss *
Cutliffe Starkvogel and the Bears Who Liked TV · John Keefauver · ss *
A Bad Cow Market · Elmer Kelton · ss *
Peaches · Lenore Carroll · ss *
Judas and Jesus · Thomas Sullivan · ss *
Sallie C. · Neal Barrett, Jr. · ss *
The Nighthawk Rides · William F. Nolan · teleplay *
The Bandit · Loren D. Estleman · ss *
Nice lineup. I do read more westerns these days, though not a lot.
I’m glad Todd recommended this collection, Jeff. And my local public library even had a copy!
You guys have been so influential in my reading. Five years ago, I would not have considered such a book and now I am going to see if my library has it.
I’m taking a renewed interest in Westerns, Patti. Todd’s recommendation of THE BEST OF THE WEST led me to track it down and read it. I’m glad I did!
The single author collections I’ve read in recent years are by Pronzini, Gorman, Elmore Leonard & Erle Stanley Gardner. There is a collection of Leonard stories you might try too, Patti.
I have those Pronzini and Leonard collections, Jeff. Now, to find the time to read them…
I liked this collection, but liked THE NEW FRONTIER even better, since it has my first pro sale in it.
I’ll look for a copy of THE NEW FRONTIER, Scott. Congratulations on that first pro sale. You never forget the First Time…
but… but… Chad Oliver is a SF writer!
Chad Oliver wrote SF and westerns, Rick.
Not always, Rick. And that’s true, some of the time (sf writing that is), of half the contributors here. And Lansdale name-checks DANGEROUS VISIONS in the intro, for reasons I speculate about in the review. I’ll have to ask Lansdale sometime.
(And, Oliver’s story is a fantasy with somewhat atypical western-fiction elements. But perhaps his best-remembered novel is a somewhat anthropological western.)