Of course I had to vote for "Unsinkable Molly Brown," as that was the name of our sailboat. nina

That's an ecclectic selection of westerns. Like a lot of people, my introduction to westerns has been through movies and this has shaped my taste. Of course, most of my novels and film scripts are in fact westerns, even if they're set in places like Birmingham, the Black Country and Yorkshire mining villages during the strike.

I was very surprised not to see more Elmer Kelton!!!!!

I agree
ROGER

What about Angle of Repose?

deleted user wrote: "I was very surprised not to see more Elmer Kelton!!!!!"

I agree, its amazing!

Both "Angle of Repose" and a few books by Elmer Kelton are now on the list! :)

Surprised to not see more Cormac McCarthy, especially the Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain. Glad to see Blood Meridian is high on the list. McCarthy is the greatest Western writer, in my opinion.

"All the Pretty Horses" is on the list, too ... (currently #57).

I had to add Elmer Kelton's Hewey Calloway trilogy and Monte Walsh.

On the Road? The Grapes of Wrath? I can see where there's a case to be made to include Wallace Stegner and Tony Hillerman. But those two books ... and "spirit of the Old West?" Seriously??

This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)

Martin wrote: "This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)"

Everyone can add books -- there's a tab up top next to "all votes."

Cold Mountain is not Western!! It is Appalachia - mid atlantic. Please fix.

Here are some good Westerns Novels.
Site : http://myfivekids.hubpages.com/hub/be...

What about "The Collected Stories of Wallace Stegner"? Many of them are connected and one is a novella.

mountain man needs re-filming; jeremiah johnson didn't do it justice!(john)

Maybe I have misunderstood the purpose of this list, but just because a novel takes place in the west doesn't make it a western.

True, the list is well defined at the top under the title. The owner of the list or a librarian can delete books that don't fit.

Don't get me wrong. I love On the Road, but maybe it doesn't belong in this particular list.

Brian wrote: "Don't get me wrong. I love On the Road, but maybe it doesn't belong in this particular list."

I have to agree with you here.

Martin wrote: "This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)"

I agree completely.

I am glad to see Westerns making a comeback. There are some really good new authors.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West is a "Western?"

Valerie wrote: "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West is a "Western?""

I consider the term "Western" to mean fiction -- although the list maker didn't specify such. That certainly doesn't apply to Dee Brown's book.

True Grit is entered more than once.

fixed

How about "Plain Song," by Wright Morris?

Nina wrote: "How about "Plain Song," by Wright Morris?" You should add it if you think it fits the list Nina.

MomToKippy wrote: "fixed"

thank you!

Should Into the Wild be on the list? It's set in Alaska.

On p. 4.

Earth Abides is sci-fi. Should it be on here?

On p. 6.

One of Ours is set in Nebraska and France. Does that count as a western? On p. 8.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Earth Abides is sci-fi. Should it be on here?

On p. 6."

Removed.

Thanks, I really enjoyed this list. I like the fact that the definition of western is kept broad, so that modern tales with spirit akin to the 'Wild West' are included. I'm still wondering about Steinbeck, though. Into the Wild, for sure; even todays Alaska is in the wild west!

I removed #134 Last of the Mohicans. It is an "Eastern", not a "Western". It took place in New York State and thereabouts.

Yes, but it was 'the West' then. And it ticks the right boxes. The Native and the frontiersmen, the clash, and sometimes harmony, of different civilisations, power exercised by remote eastern rulers, the potential and fragility of the wilderness, good versus evil and so on. Set in the times before the push for American independence, this book forms something of a template for subsequent Westerns. It might be too geographically literal to remove it, though I suppose some criterion of location must apply.

Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales is a set of five novels (available together in a two vol Library of America set) that follows the adventures of the hero, Natty Bumppo, from his youth in the Eastern forests to his final years in '"The Prairie" (published 1827) where he is dealing with Indians on the Central Plains (in his 80s!) and would be a good match for this list geograpically.

This could be helpful.