If the question ever surfaces as to who is to blame or bless for my choice of casual reading material, it would be Edwin Carroll Maples, my mother's brother, a WWII veteran, and one of my heroes. It was he who introduced me to Mickey Spillane, Max Brand, Ian Fleming, Louis L Amour, Donald Hamilton, Zane Grey, and many more.

Keep in mind that this was in the days of the Cowboy television shows. Have Gun Will Travel, Cheyenne, and Maverick were examples of what I spent my TV time on. So while I enjoyed the Spy Novels of Fleming and the Detective Novels of Spillane, the Westerns had my heart.

A few sentences that start that way did not get me into some kind of trouble but I was thinking; If I were a new reader wanting to get into the Western genre as a reader where might I start? This short piece is going to be exactly that. If you came to my office, we sat down to coffee and talked westerns what would be the ten books I would want you to walk out of my office with? If that is, you could be trusted to return them.

Number 1: Shane by Jack Schaefer

A classic story of a loner whose time has passed by and he knows it. His last dream is to find a place where he can live out his days in peace among friends. But of course that is never to be. Shane finds out that sometimes the ones who yearn for peace are the very ones who must fight to protect it.

A Shakespearean story if ever I saw one, and with six guns. An aside here, the movie Shane was the first Western movie where firearms sounded like firearms, not cap guns.

Number 2: How the West Was Won by Louis L Amour

I have just now had to face that there are people into Western historical fiction who do not believe L Amour is one of the top five people to ever write a Western book...I am certain they are good people deep inside. Likely they are related to or are one of those critics who look at Max Brand's stunningly prodigious output of stories in various genres, decide he is a hack, and set about to prove themselves right. How the West Was Won displays Mr. L Amour's remarkable grasp of Western history and geography.

Here let me throw you in a freebie; find a copy of Education of a Wandering Man by Mr. L Amour. It is an autobiographical look at his travels and his reading list.

Number 3: The Searchers by Alan La May

This book kinda turned the whole genre on its ear and was turned into the screenplay for one of the best, if not the best, movies John Wayne ever starred in. The Searchers, many years ago, was chosen as one of the 100 best novels for a paperback library.

Number 4: The Way West by A. B. Guthrie Jr.

A story about the great wagon train quest across this nation. A story that scared the land and marked our national myth with both good and bad. A story worth telling and Mr. Guthrie was up to the job of telling it.

Number 5: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

In my never humble enough opinion Mr. McMurtry is one of the greatest modern American authors writing today. Lonesome Dove is one of his best books and, wait for it, there are sequels. Life is good.

Number 6: The Virginian, by Owen Wister

I admit other novels might contend for the title of THE ONE THAT STARTED IT ALL. This one is my entry. Yes, there were books and stories written by other authors that predated Mr. Wister but, DADGUM IT this is a masterwork. My copy is a hardback from MacMillan's Standard Library. On the inside cover, there is a note: “To Tommy from Alpha 1909”. It is written in pencil with a school teacher's cursive.

Number 7: Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

Zane Grey should be enough said. If there is a Grand Old Man of Western fiction writers Mr. Grey is very much in the running. His only real competition is Mr. L Amour and in that race, I would handicap it 7 to 10 and you pick 'em.

Number 8: Sin Killer By Larry McMurtry

Another series starter by Mr. McMurtry, yes, he does write regular single novels and he does it quite well. This series though is the one I like the best. This series is painted with broad strokes and covers a very exciting time in our Frontier Histories, from the Mountain Men to the Alamo. You go, Larry.

Number 9: The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout

An excellently constructed story by a lesser-known but excellent Word Mechanic. “I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." That was worth the price of admission all by itself.

Number 10: True Grit by Charles Portis

If this list were rated for the top ten this one would be higher than it was; a lot higher; maybe number one. It is the 10th book I would recommend to a new reader of Frontier Fiction because it is so nuanced and subtle. For instance, the dialog has no contractions because people did not speak that way back then.

So there is my list of the ten books I would recommend to a person wanting to explore Western Fiction. Sadly, I left out so many good and eligible books; Monty Walsh comes to mind. “Ever wrestled a wolf?” With dialog like that you are on your way. And it is another book by Jack Schaefer.

So what did I get right? What did I get wrong? I am an older guy, what's new that I haven't looked at? What would your list look like? Let's talk about it.

Ed