The Complete Western Stories

The Complete Western Stories

by ElmoreLeonard (Author)

Synopsis

No one is more evocative of the dusty, gutsy heyday of the American West than Elmore Leonard. And no story about a young writer struggling to launch his career ever matched its subject matter better than the tale behind Leonard's Western collection. In 1950, fresh out of college - having written two 'pointless' stories, as he describes them - Leonard decided he needed to pick a market, a big one, which would give him a better chance to be published while he learned to write. In choosing between crime and Westerns, the latter had an irresistible pull - Leonard loved movies set in the West. As he researched deeper into settings, Arizona in the 1880s captured his imagination: the Spanish influence, the stands-offs and shoot-outs between Apache Indians and the US cavalry...His first dozen stories sold for 2 cents a word, for $100 each. The rest is history. This first-ever complete collection of Leonard's thirty Western tales will thrill lovers of the genre, his diehard fans and everyone in between - and makes a terrific study of the launch of a phenomenal career. From his very first story published - 'The Trail of the Apache' - through five decades of classic Western tales, THE COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES OF ELMORE LEONARD demonstrates again and again the superb talent for language and gripping narrative that has made Leonard one of the most acclaimed and influential writers of our time.

$4.47

Save:$18.27 (80%)

Quantity

Temporarily out of stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 544
Publisher: W&N
Published: 11 May 2006

ISBN 10: 0297848119
ISBN 13: 9780297848110
Book Overview: Phoenix has the rights to 11 backlist Leonard titles which will be published from 2004 to 2006 with a great series cover look. 'The best writer in crime fiction today' - USA Today 'A superb craftsman... his writing is pure pleasure' - Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Media Reviews
I was lucky enough recently to meet up with Elmore Leonard in London. Though a huge fan of his crime fiction, I'd not come across his cowboy stories before, and so I picked up his Complete Western Stories. My dad was a great reader of Westerns, and we both enjoyed Wild West films, so I'm looking forward to reading some Western fiction for the first time. IAN RANKIN Thick enough to stop a bullet from a Sharps rifle at ten metres, the volume contains thirty fine tales of the rough world of nineteenth century Arizona and New Mexico... Cool Hand Leonard has an ability to picture his subjects swiftly and without undue ornamentation: like all great western-writers, he is quick on the draw... this man knows how to write. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT Reading these stories, the reader is struck not only by the young Leonard's talent for recreating the southwest frontier's scorching atmosphere, but also by his skill for constructing plot and conveying character with unusual economy of means. FINANCIAL TIMES Elmore Leonard is the king of cool... The most remarkable thing about these stories is that they are even better than Leonard's novels... Bang! You're hit with an immediate compulsion to read another. Luckily, there are 30 in the book. Happy trails. IRISH EXAMINER I'm a huge fan -- IAN RANKIN GUARDIAN This big fat snake of a book coils all the way through Elmore Leonard's writing career... 30 tales which gleam with betrayal and dirty fulfilment. SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY a real treat for fans... Superb! GOOD BOOK GUIDE
Author Bio
Elmore Leonard has written more than three dozen books during an astonishingly career. Many of his novels have been made into celebrated movies like Get Shorty and Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown.