Westerns by Elmore Leonard (Library of America)

The modern master of the genre

The Library of America is a nonprofit publisher that puts out authoritative hardcover editions of works by American authors, essentially establishing a “canon” of American literature. They began with reliable classic old books by dead guys—Melville, Twain, London, Emerson, and so on—but over time have expanded into collections of more recent authors’ writings, with mixed results. Some of their choices are not exactly canon-worthy, but one American author who certainly does deserve a spot in the LOA pantheon is Elmore Leonard (1925–2013). The Library of America has published four volumes of Leonard’s work. Three are devoted to his crime novels; the fourth and most recent volume, entitled Westerns, was published in 2018.

Leonard is best known for his crime fiction and thrillers, but he originally began his literary career writing Western stories for pulp fiction magazines. His Western fiction, however, is more than just standard Wild West adventure literature. Leonard has consistently demonstrated himself to be one of the all-time masters of the Western genre. This volume from the Library of America includes four near-perfect Western novels: Last Stand at Saber River (1959), Hombre (1961), Valdez Is Coming (1970), and Forty Lashes Less One (1972). One thing notable about these novels is that three out of the four feature Native American, Latino, and Black protagonists that are handled in a realistic and sympathetic manner that unfortunately was not the norm for 1960s and ‘70s Westerns.

The novels are followed by eight of Leonard’s short stories, all of them quite good. Leonard set most of his Western stories in Arizona. They tend to be situational thrillers involving good folks persecuted by hostile Apaches, cattle rustlers, bandits, or corrupt land barons. The best of the short stories presented here is “The Tonto Woman,” which is also the latest selection, from 1982. The rest were originally published in the 1950s. As is usual for the Library of America, this book also provides a chronology of the author’s life and career, which in this case amounts to a detailed, comprehensive biographical sketch of Leonard.

Leonard’s body of work has been the basis for many film adaptations. Hombre (1967), directed by Martin Ritt and starring Paul Newman, and 3:10 to Yuma (1957), directed by Delmer Daves and starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin, are two excellent Western film classics. The latter was remade fifty years later with Russel Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles. Valdez Is Coming was also adapted into a 1971 film starring Burt Lancaster. Last Stand at Saber River became a made for TV production starring Tom Selleck (1997). Director Quentin Tarantino bought the rights to Forty Lashes Less One but hasn’t done anything with it. Leonard’s story “The Captives” was also made into a great movie entitled The Tall T (1957) starring Randolph Scott. “The Tonto Woman” was adapted into a short film (2008) that garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short. Not all of these films are masterpieces, but they’re all well worth a watch. I cite them here as evidence of Leonard’s prominent and enduring influence on the genre.

Even readers who don’t typically like Westerns may still enjoy Leonard’s suspenseful plots and clever dialogue. His writings have an appeal that transcends genre boundaries. If you liked Get Shorty or Justified, you might very well like this as well. The only Western book I can think of that’s comparable in literary merit and entertainment value to Leonard’s novels is Charles Portis’s True Grit. If you like Westerns, then you should definitely check out Leonard’s work, and if you’re going to buy a paper hard copy edition, why not get this top-notch volume from the Library of America? They do hardcovers right.

Novels included in this volume
(all previously reviewed at Old Books by Dead Guys)

Last Stand at Saber River 

Hombre 

Forty Lashes Less One 

Valdez Is Coming 

Short stories included in this volume

Trail of the Apache 

The Rustlers 

Three-Ten to Yuma 

Blood Money 

The Captives 

The Nagual 

The Kid 

The Tonto Woman 

American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1968–1969 (Library of America), edited by Gary K. Wolfe

These “classics” are mediocre at best

I’ve always been a big fan of the Library of America. Mostly I’m familiar with their volumes of classic literature in the black and white dustjackets. When it comes to that sphere of publishing, they put together the best-edited and best-produced books in the business. When I saw that this volume on American Science Fiction was being offered as a Kindle Daily Deal, I snatched it up, expecting that it would reflect the smart editorial choices and general excellence I’ve come to expect from the Library of America. American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1968–1969, however, proved to be a major disappointment. Although I enjoy reading vintage science fiction from this era, these selections did not impress me at all. Two of the books were terrible, and two were mediocre at best. The four authors featured are all well-respected in the genre, and these books have maybe won Nebula or Hugo Awards, but I don’t always agree with the arbiters of taste who hand out such accolades. If these four books are indeed regarded as “classics” of the genre, then they are vastly overrated.

Past Master is the debut novel by R. A. Lafferty. In the 26th century, an Earth colony on a far-off planet is facing unrest in their utopian community, so they reach back in time to abduct Sir Thomas More, author of the original Utopia, to rescue their government. The book is filled with bad ideas, nonsensical language, meaningless dialog, and silly attempts at humor that aren’t funny. Even worse is Picnic on Paradise by Joanna Russ. This novel is ostensibly a wilderness adventure, devoid of adventure, in which Alyx of Tyre (a recurring character for Russ) leads a band of frequently weeping idiots on a pointless trek through the mountainous terrain of a planet ironically named Paradise. Like Lafferty, Russ takes so many liberties with the English language that her prose reads like fruitless nonsense.

The other two selections in the volume fare better by at least being readable. Like the two aforementioned, both take place in a distant future after mankind has populated many worlds. Samuel R. Delany’s novel Nova has a decent story about interstellar voyagers aiming to fly through a star as it goes nova. It just gets too bogged down in an overly melodramatic space opera and a bunch of tangential digressions about Delany’s pet interests (tarot cards, for example) that in no way contribute to the main plot of the narrative. The best novel in the collection, and that’s not saying much, is Jack Vance’s Emphyrio. Man’s interstellar colonies are governed by a sort of medieval feudalism, which Vance uses to advance his libertarian theories of economics. Inspired by the legend of a Christ-like martyr named Emphyrio, a young hero decides to resist the ruling empire. Unlike the other showings in this collection, Vance is at least a good craftsman of the English language and a thoughtful storyteller who can write science fiction that doesn’t defy logic.

The Library of America has published at least three other volumes in this series of American Science Fiction collections, all edited by Gary K. Wolfe. I am familiar with a few of the novels included in those other volumes, such as the excellent Way Station by Clifford D. Simak in the 1960–1966 collection. After being disappointed by Wolfe’s selections in this 1968–1969 volume, however, I don’t have confidence that another volume of science fiction from the LOA would be worth my money or time.

Novels in this collection (all previously reviewed at Old Books by Dead Guys)

Past Master by R. A. Lafferty 

Picnic on Paradise by Joanna Russ 

Nova by Samuel R. Delany 

Emphyrio by Jack Vance

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The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings, 1936–1941 by John Steinbeck (Library of America)

A watershed period in his career

Likely nine out of ten books that I read are on the Kindle, but when I want to buy a print book, and the author happens to be American, I find that no one puts together better volumes of classic literature than the Library of America. This nonprofit publisher puts great care and attention into the editing and production of their books, and their list of titles is like a comprehensive museum of American literary history. Take John Steinbeck, winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, for example. The LOA has published four volumes of Steinbeck’s writings that encompass all of his major works. Chronologically, The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings is the second of these four volumes. This collection was first published in 1996.

Obviously, the main attraction here is Steinbeck’s 1939 masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath, one of the greatest novels in American literature. Even if you’ve already read that book, however, the remaining selections in the volume are worth the purchase price. The Grapes of Wrath is the fictional saga of the Joad family, farmers from Oklahoma who, having been displaced by the Dust Bowl, migrate to California to look for work. Prior to the publication of the novel, Steinbeck published a series of articles in The San Francisco Sun on the lives of California’s migrant farm laborers. These articles, grouped under the heading of The Harvest Gypsies, are include in this volume. This series of essays serves as a valuable historical document of the times and provides an interesting view into the journalistic research Steinbeck conducted as the basis for The Grapes of Wrath.

Another nonfiction work included in the volume is The Log from the Sea of Cortez, Steinbeck’s account of a nautical expedition to Mexico with marine biologist Ed Ricketts. Given that Ricketts served as the model for the character Doc in the novels Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, it would have made more sense to group those three works in one volume. The labor novel In Dubious Battle would have made a better fit for this Grapes of Wrath volume, but the Library of America has divided Steinbeck’s career chronologically, which explains the choice of contents. Like a more modern, aquatic version of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, The Log from the Sea of Cortez is a scientific travelog in which Steinbeck digresses into numerous philosophical asides. As a mix of exploration narrative and literary license, it is good at both but great at neither.

The remaining book included in this volume is Steinbeck’s 1938 collection of short stories The Long Valley, a truly exceptional collection of short fiction that combines the naturalism of Jack London or Frank Norris with a sort of modern California gothic or noir atmosphere reminiscent of William Faulkner’s darker visions of the American South. Among the selections included here are the stories that would eventually make up Steinbeck’s novella The Red Pony.

Like all Library of America books, this volume includes a chronology of the author’s life, information on the original publication of the texts, and copious notes. The chronology provides a surprisingly detailed overview of Steinbeck’s life that makes me want to learn more. The LOA has done their usual bang-up job on this volume. Anyone looking for a quality hardbound compendium of some of Steinbeck’s best work can’t go wrong with this book.

Works in this collection

The Long Valley 

The Grapes of Wrath 

The Log from the Sea of Cortez 

The Harvest Gypsies 

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Novels and Social Writings by Jack London (Library of America)

The gold standard of London collections
I first came upon this volume 25 years ago. It was my introduction to London, and today it is probably still the most valued book on my shelves. Jack London is one of America’s greatest writers, and this collection from the Library of America proves it. Though now best known for The Call of the Wild and other adventure tales of the Klondike (LOA also has a collection of those), in his day London was also a renowned writer on political, philosophical, and social issues. The five books and four essays collected here represent some of his greatest work.

For most of his life London was a socialist, and his political writings emphasize class struggle, the plight of the working man in capitalist society, and the inevitability of a socialist revolution. The People of the Abyss is London’s journalistic account of the poverty-stricken slums of London’s East End. In The Road, he relates the adventures of his days tramping across North America. The Iron Heel is a masterful science fiction novel about a future civil war between revolutionary socialists and a plutocratic oligarchy. Martin Eden is a semi-autobiographical novel about a working class writer who strives to elevate his social status through self-education and hard work. John Barleycorn is London’s memoir about his life-long relationship with alcohol. Of these five, only The People of the Abyss seems to have lost a bit of its power and relevance over the past century. The remaining four books are five-star works still as vital as the day they were written. (Follow the links in this paragraph to read more detailed reviews of individual books.)

In addition to these book-length works, London wrote dozens of short stories and essays on political and social themes. The selection provided here is satisfactory, but not exceptional. It would have been great if they had included some of his short fiction like “The Apostate” or “Goliah,” but instead they have chosen four essays. “How I Became a Socialist” is an obvious choice, given its title and subject matter, but it’s really too brief to provide a great deal of insight into London’s political thought. “The Scab” is a very good example of London’s political essays detailing the failures of capitalist society. More perplexing is the inclusion of London’s “Introduction to The Jungle”, since it’s mostly just a plot summary of Upton Sinclair’s novel. “Revolution,” on the other hand, is an excellent choice. It’s a state-of-the-union address for socialism in 1905, and a stirring call to arms.

The Library of America produces the best books of classic literature available today, with beautiful typography, high quality paper, and elegant bindings made to last forever. These volumes are not needlessly encumbered with introductions and prefaces, but let the authors’ masterworks speak for themselves. They do include endnotes which clarify historical events and archaic terms, and a detailed chronology of the author’s life. These books are truly a joy to read and to behold. My only complaint about the LOA is why only two volumes on London? He is America’s most widely read author worldwide, and deserves the extensive treatment given to Faulkner, Steinbeck, and Twain.

Books included in this volume

The People of the Abyss 

The Road 

The Iron Heel 

Martin Eden 

John Barleycorn 

Essays included in this volume

How I Became a Socialist 

The Scab 

Introduction to The Jungle 

Revolution 

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Collected Stories and Other Writings by Katherine Anne Porter (Library of America)

Exceptional fiction, lackluster essays
Katherine Anne Porter was one of the best American writers of short stories between the World Wars. Though she achieved her fame through fiction, and rightfully so, she also published a great deal of journalistic essays, literary criticism, and brief memoirs. This volume from the Library of America, the most complete one-volume collection of her work, includes roughly 500 pages of fiction and 500 pages of nonfiction.

Porter published three collections of short stories during her career, all of which are included here. The first collection, Flowering Judas and Other Stories, is also the best. It consists of twelve stories, most of which take place in Mexico, where Porter lived for several years. Among the standouts in this group are the excellent title piece, “Maria Concepción,” “The Cracked Looking Glass,” and “He.” The second volume included here, Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels, is also very good. It contains the excellent novella “Noon Wine,” possibly Porter’s best piece of work, in which a tragic event takes place on a farm in southern Texas. The third volume of short fiction included here, The Leaning Tower and Other Stories, is weaker than the other two, with the only real standout piece being “A Day's Work.” The overall impression given by Porter’s fiction is that she is a first-class writer, but she doesn’t hit it out of the park every time. She likes to experiment with style and structure, striving to push the envelope with each story. Even when she fails in her experiments, one can appreciate the inkling of genius in her failures.

Her nonfiction, on the other hand, does not inspire the same degree of admiration. The numerous essays in this volume are divided into three main categories: Criticism, Personal and Particular, and Mexican. The Criticism section, which covers a who’s who of modern authors, is painful to get through. Her style could charitably be called impressionistic, but for the most part these pieces are rambling and disjointed. She’s far more interested in crafting a clever turn of phrase than she is in educating her audience about the book or author in question. The second section, Personal and Particular, is a mixed bag of writing about writing, autobiographical stories, and miscellaneous journalism and criticism. Porter doesn’t have anything particularly interesting to say about the writer’s craft. She proclaims no allegiance to any school, but advocates originality and creativity in general, praising the likes of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. The best piece in this section is “The Never-Ending Wrong,” about the trial of the anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. Porter took part in the protests against their unjust trial and execution. The third section, Mexican, I enjoyed much more than the rest of the nonfiction, simply because I happen to have a personal interest in Mexican history and culture. Porter shows herself very knowledgeable in Mexican culture and politics, and has a knack for vividly capturing the atmosphere and mind set of the nation and its people.

Usually I praise the editing of the Library of America books, but here the editorial strategy seems to be to throw in everything she ever wrote, with the notable exception of her only published novel, Ship of Fools, which would have been preferable to most of the nonfiction included here. Like all books in the Library of America series, this one provides an extensively detailed chronology of the author’s life, which reveals far more about Porter than her own autobiographical writings. Porter was an excellent writer, so you really can’t go wrong in buying this book, but I must admit that I expected to like it much more than I did. Even Porter admits that much of her nonfiction was written out of financial necessity. It’s a shame she didn’t have the means or the time to leave us with more of her superb fiction.

Fiction: Short story collections included in this volume

Flowering Judas and Other Stories 

Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels 

The Leaning Tower and Other Stories 

Nonfiction: Divided into three main categories

Criticism 

Personal and Particular 

Mexican 

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Novels and Essays by Frank Norris (Library of America)

The King of American Naturalism
Frank Norris could have been a household name, remembered by all as one of America’s greatest writers, had he not met with an untimely death at the age of 32. Stylistically, he was an outspoken advocate of naturalism, a literary movement founded by the French writer Emile Zola. Naturalism is generally considered a form of realism because the author seeks to reproduce the world in all its gritty, scientific authenticity. Norris argued, however, that naturalism was a form of romanticism because often, as in the works of Zola, extraordinary events take place within this ordinary reality. This excellent collection of Norris’s writings not only presents brilliant examples of his naturalistic fiction, but also a number of valuable nonfiction pieces which encapsulate his literary philosophy.

Three complete novels and an assortment of essays are included here. Of the novels, The Octopus is Norris’s best and most renowned work. Based on the Mussel Slough Tragedy of 1880, it tells the story of California wheat farmers struggling to defend their land and livelihood against the oppressive tactics of a corrupt railroad company. It is a masterpiece that definitely belongs on any list of the twenty best novels in American literature, if not the top ten. Norris’s other famous novel is McTeague, the story of a mild-mannered dentist and his wife whose lives are gradually destroyed by an all-consuming greed. Part suspenseful thriller, part insightful psychological study; it makes for a gripping read. As for the third novel, the obvious choice would have been to include The Pit, a sequel of sorts to The Octopus, and probably Norris’s third best-known work. Instead, the editor chose to include Vandover and the Brute, Norris’s first novel, which did not see publication until after his death. It depicts the descent of a young artist into a life of decadence and vice. In terms of quality, it’s not in the same league with the other two novels, but it reveals a promising stage in the development of his mature style, a glimmering of great things to come.

This volume includes 22 of Norris’s essays. All are about four or five pages long, all pertain to writers and writing, and all are excellent. In these essays Norris defines his conception of naturalism, outlines the responsibilities of the novelist, and reveals his vision of the future of American literature. He issues a call to arms to American writers to step up and create the great epic of the American West. Though adept at serious literary criticism, Norris also had a sense of humor, as evidenced by “Perverted Tales,” a hilarious piece in which he parodies the writing styles of Rudyard Kipling, Stephen Crane, Bret Harte, Richard Harding Davis, Ambrose Bierce, and Anthony Hope. The editor of this volume, Donald Pizer, has done an excellent job of selecting essays that give us a clear and thorough insight into the mind, personality, and literary thought of this great author.

I can’t say enough good things about the Library of America. Although I love my Kindle, when I really want to get to know an American author, I’m happy to leave the e-reader at home and lug around one of these big, beautiful hardcover volumes. The LOA produces books that are superbly edited, elegantly designed, and handsomely and durably constructed. They are cherished items on my book shelves, and I hope some day my grand kids will read them.

Works in this collection

Vandover and the Brute 

McTeague 

The Octopus 

Essays 

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