Westerns

Visit From the Goon Squad I try to stay familiar with new books coming out, but also keep a list (on goodreads.com) so I don't miss anything great either. I recently read two great books that either were published in 2010 or enjoyed a resurgence in 2010. These two books don't have too much in common, but I missed them then, maybe you did too!

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is a complicated contemporary novel that follows many different characters, but centers around Bennie and Sasha, who work in the music industry. We meet both of them at different points in their lives, from teenagers to older parents and the novel stretches from the Bay Area, to NYC, to Africa and Naples. Each chapter focuses on a particular character at a specific time and place with no real instruction to the reader on the how and why. Through the strength of Egan, this doesn't break down the narrative. I really enjoyed all of the voices, varied narrative structures, and cried during a chapter told as a powerpoint told by a 14 year old character previously un-introduced. This book is risky, edgy, intellectual, unafraid of emotion, and requires a lot from the reader. With all that said, it was also highly enjoyable! Read more »

SistersBrothers I’ve worked in libraries for years including a few in Texas, so it is a wonder that I’ve never read a western. Part of the problem then with reading your first book in a genre is that you lack the language to properly describe it or make comparisons. Now I wonder if I shall ever read another for the fear that the next one won’t hold up to The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt.

It is the gold rush years and the infamous Charlie and Eli Sisters are riding from Oregon City to San Francisco on orders from the Commodore to kill Hermann Kermit Warm. There is trouble with horses, whores, a red bear pelt, excessive brandy drinking, a man named Mayfield, a witch and a mysterious magical formula. Large sums of money come and go. The characters are unique, but without a lot of overall development. Is this usual for a western? Is the level of violence similar to other westerns? Is this a parody of the genre, a homage or both?

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High Noon is one of the classic westerns of all time. The story of a town marshal waiting for the arrival of a band of outlaws arriving on the noon train with just one plan, to kill the marshal. Played by Gary Cooper, the marshal finds little support from the citizens of the town. He has the option to leave but a duty to stay. In Outland we travel in time to the future. We are on a remote mining facility on one of Jupiter's moons. Once there, a newly arrived marshal finds evidence of a major drug problem that endangers the lives of all the workers. As the evidence mounts we soon find the marshal waiting for the arrival of a band of assassins arriving on the next earth shuttle with just one plan, to kill the marshal. Played by Sean Connery, the marshal finds little support from the citizens, administration and works of the facility. He had an option to leave, but a duty to stay. Read more »

Buck is a documentary about legendary horse trainer Dan “Buck” Brannaman, the modern day horse whisperer and inspiration for both the book and film alike. His horsemanship skills are legendary because he can train a horse to do just about anything in nearly ten minutes without touching the horse.

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This Sunday in our Booksplus program (Library Room 2B at 2p.m.) we will be discussing Jeannette Walls' rousing true fiction story Half Broke Horses about her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, a feisty woman who grew up in the still wild west of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in the early years of the last century. You may be familiar with the author's first book The Glass Castle; it made many best books of the year lists when it came out in 2005 and still has a wide readership.

What a gripping opening. A flash flood rips through the family ranch one evening and Lily her brother and sister hear a loud rumbling as the earth shakes beneath them. Lily grabs the youngest and runs for the only tree in the field. They spend a harrowing night hanging on to branches as massive flood waters drown the field. Although Lily is only ten at the time, she keeps both children awake by making them say their math tables, the names of the states, and any other long list she can remember.
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Westerns

New to Me Only 3(+) Years Later!

The Sisters Brothers: A Most (Un)usual Western?

Outland

Buck

Half Broke Horses: a True Life Novel