Authors :: Literature
Cowboy :: Genres

L.A. Times - Books & Talks

'The Second Plane' by Martin Amis
Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700
September 11: Terror and Boredom IT would be too easy to read Martin Amis' slim book on Sept. 11 in a day and to dismiss it with a politically correct glare. The dozen essays, columns and reviews and two short stories in "The Second Plane: September 11, Terror and Boredom" are more illuminating than that, though deeply, sometimes self-indulgently flawed.
'The House of Widows' by Askold Melnyczuk
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Family secrets lie at the end of a dark and twisted path FROM its puzzling opening line ("The most common grammatical error is the lie"), there's an ominous vibe to Askold Melnyczuk's third novel, "The House of Widows," and the sense of unease lingers until the final sentence. It's a mysterious, masterfully taut story in which dread plays a prominent role.
'Marco Polo' by Laurence Bergreen
Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700
An account of the adventures of the celebrated 13th century world traveler. MARCO POLO was only 17 when he departed for China in 1271 with his father, Niccolò, and his uncle, Maffeo. Those two merchants of Venice were known to the boy primarily as storytellers of their fabulous exploits, writes award-winning biographer and historian Laurence Bergreen, for they had been absent more than 16 years, Marco's entire childhood. The pair had followed trade routes east, encountered exotic countries and customs and survived many perils; they had even lived for a time at the court of Kublai Khan, the leader of the Mongol Empire. Eventually they agreed to accompany his emissary west to the pope, vowing to return to Cambulac (Beijing) with several items the Great Khan had requested.

NYT > Books

Killer Children
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:05:58 -0000
In Natsuo Kirino’s novel, a juvenile killer on the run in Tokyo murders without conscience — and only in retrospect attempts to invent a philosophy to explain his crime.
Essay: Advice Squad
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:44:44 -0000
A guided tour of the books on the self-help best-seller list.
Rock the Casbah
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:34:51 -0000
Mark LeVine discovered that the Islamic world has a surprisingly active heavy metal subculture.

Fiction & Poetry

Mary at the Tattoo Shop
Marcus Jackson Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0000
She counted her money before we went in, avenue beside us anxious with Friday-evening traffic. Both fourteen, we shared a Newport, its manila butt salty to our lips. Inside, from a huge book of designs and letter styles, she chose to get “MARY” in a black, Old English script . . .
Thirteen Hundred Rats
T. Coraghessan Boyle Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
There was a man in our village who never in his life had a pet of any kind until his wife died. By my calculation, Gerard Loomis was in his mid-fifties when Marietta was taken from him, but at the ceremony in the chapel he looked so scorched and . . .
Songs of a Season
Maureen N. McLane Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
for here or to go-- a glass mug, a paper cup-- life is fast, art slow only a few years before all that I am blows free, subatomic not for me that life the careless joy of the dog not for me that leap how to say beautiful weekend in . . .

London Review of Books

Not My Fault · John Lanchester: New Labour's Terrible Memoirs
New Labour's exes are a hard-publishing lot. So far we have had diaries from two of its central figures, David Blunkett and Alastair Campbell, and from a spin-doctor hanger-on (Lance Price); a memoir by its most senior diplomat, the former ambassador to Washington Sir Christopher Meyer; and now memoirs by the former prime minister's wife, his deputy and his bagman. The granddaddy of them all, Blair's own memoirs, are still to come. It is an unprecedented cascade of memoirs by prominent figures in a government which is, let's not forget, still in power. The phenomenon seemed odd when it began - Lance Price was called in front of a Parliamentary committee in December 2005 to account for his temerity in publishing his insider's account. By now we're used to it, and it's getting to the point where it would be more surprising for a New Labour insider not to publish a book explaining how he/she was both a. more at the centre of things than anybody had hitherto suspected while also b. not to blame for any of the stuff that went wrong.
Diary · Sean Wilsey Goes Slow
In the fall of 2002, in the company of a dog named Charlie Chaplin and an architect named Michael Meredith, I set out to drive a 1960 Chevy Apache 10 pick-up truck, at 45 mph, from far west Texas to New York City: 2364 miles through desert, suburbs, forests, lake-spattered plains, mountains, farmland, more suburbs and the Holland Tunnel. I got to know both of my travelling companions during a brief period living in the town of Marfa, Texas, which is also where I found the truck, parked in front of the post office: boxy, banged up, covered in sky-blue house paint, the half-smashed windshield a lattice of stars and linear cracks, like a flag. A Mexican man in his sixties walked outside with his mail and drove it away. Then I found it parked out by the cemetery. Jesse Santesteban, the owner, showed me where he'd signed the engine compartment like an artist, and said I could take a closer look. The doors had handmade wooden armrests, and the seatbelts were fashioned of canvas and chain link. An orange shag carpet covered the floorboards. I offered him $1200 cash. He handed over a green plastic keychain that read 'Laugh, live, love and be happy!' and warned: 'Don't take it over 45 or it'll throw a rod.' A friend later explained: 'That's a polite way of saying the engine will explode.'
Men in White · Benjamin Kunkel: Another Ian McEwan!
'Netherland' is an ambiguous word. It evokes, of course, the Netherlands inhabited by the Dutch, one of whom, Hans van den Broek, tells this story of a few late years spent in that New World city founded almost four hundred years ago on Manhattan Island as New Amsterdam, in what was then the territory of New Netherland. But 'netherland' could also mean any faraway place, as in those 'nether regions' of the city where Hans's teammates from the Staten Island Cricket Club spend their nights. (Hans spends his nights in Chelsea, a Manhattan neighbourhood hardly described in this book, notable for a high concentration of well-built gay men, new condominiums, art galleries, bank branches and large home-furnishing outlets.) 'Netherland' also has sinister overtones of Never Never Land, and sounds like a euphemism for Hades.

Guardian Unlimited Books

Kathryn Hughes: Summer non-fiction round-up 2008
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Summer reading: Kathryn Hughes picks the new books that will take you to faraway places
A life in writing: Tobias Wolff
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Tobias Wolff: 'I hate cruelty. I hate a bully ... There's something in my president, that hectoring way, that reminds me of my stepfather'
Rereading: Did Robert Browning do away with Elizabeth Barrett?
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Did Robert Browning do away with Elizabeth Barrett? Elizabeth Lowry looks to his dramatic monologue 'My Last Duchess' for clues

NPR Topics: Books

Are You Ready For The Summer? Camp, That Is
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:20:00 -0400
A new book titled Camp Camp: Where Fantasy Island Meets Lord of the Flies is an ode to the time of year when kids swarm to camps with appropriated Native American names and sweaty cabins filled with bunk beds and the spoils of independence.
Carter's New Thriller Mixes Murder, Love And Politics
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:40:00 -0400
Novelist Stephen Carter, who is also a professor at the Yale Law School, says his latest novel, Palace Council, is a thriller, a conspiracy, a love story and historical fiction. And the process of writing it was "utterly exhausting."
Books That Knock It Out Of The Park
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:09:00 -0400
Watching baseball and reading books have a lot in common. Both are made for the summer, require some investment of time and — the best part — involve a great deal of sitting. Alan Schwarz details his three favorite books on America's favorite game.

Slashdot: Book Reviews

Inside Steve's Brain
samzenpus Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:19:00 -0000
cgjherr writes "There are management insights to be learned from Steve Jobs? You're nuts. The only things you can learn from Jobs is how to drive people nuts. Or at least, that's what I thought up until I read 'Inside Steve's Brain.' Turns out, there are things to learn from Steve's obsessive perfectionism. Certainly I wouldn't copy every aspect of Jobs' management style. Doing that will likely get you fired, or at least reprimanded, in most companies. But there is some stuff to be learned from how Jobs designs products and analyses the market, and that's the view that Leander Kahney gives us access to." Keep reading for the rest of Jack's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide
samzenpus Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:10:00 -0000
lamaditx writes "There is a good chance that you have heard about "Web 2.0" — the buzz-word coined by Tim O'Reilly in 2005. You will find several reviews of books about this topic on Slashdot. These cover mainly technical aspects of implementation whereas this book introduces the strategical thinking behind the whole Web 2.0 movement... Web 2.0 is so much more than the technology.' The table of contents is available from O'Reilly, together with a chapter preview. The book does not come with any extras but includes the usual free 45 days access to the book on Safari. When reading a book I usually flip through it quickly to get an impression for it, in this case there are three things which I noted right away." Keep reading for the rest of Adrian's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Head First C#
samzenpus Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:24:00 -0000
Michael J. Ross writes "For computer programmers who do not have a solid understanding of object-oriented programming (OOP), learning the C# programming language can be rather challenging, even if they have experience with C or C++, which at least would give them a head start over non-C programmers. Any developer in this situation may well want to begin the learning process with a book that aims to teach both OOP and C# in as gentle a manner as possible, with plenty of patient explanations and illustrative diagrams — such as those found in the book Head First C# by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene." Read below for the rest of Michael's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

 

Subscribe to Literature RSS feed

Bishop, DJ - Learn about Western writer's work, and upcoming releases.
Meta Description: [ Western fiction writer and author DJ Bishop creates living breathing characters then adds enough action and excitement to keep a reader turning the pages, available works, and a dynamic library of writing links. ]

Blakely, Mike - Author, singer and songwriter. Includes show schedule, sound clips, book excerpts, and photos.

Blevins, Win - Spur Award winner wrote Stone Song,Ravenshadow, and The Rock Child. You'll find shortstories and at least a chapter from each of Win's Books.
Meta Description: [ Win Blevins the Spur Award winning author's home on the internet. Win Blevins the author of Stone Song, Ravens Shadow and The Rock Child makes his home here., The offical web site for Win Blevins, Spur Award winning author of Stone Song, Ravenshadow, and The Rock Child. You'll find shortstories ... ]

Bly, Steven - Christian western writer of over 95 books and hundreds of articles
Meta Description: [ Official Site of authors Stephen Bly and Janet Chester Bly! ]

Boggs, Johnny D. - Site of western writer and spur award winner has bio, books, reviews, appearances, etc.
Meta Description: [ Johnny Boggs, Western Fiction, Historical Fiction, old west, wild west ]

Boling, Frederick W. - Writer of Western fiction and nonfiction.
Meta Description: [ Writer of Western fiction and nonfiction. ]

Brand, Max - Also known as Frederick Faust. Official web site owned by the writer's heirs. Book listings and excerpts as well as author biography.
Meta Description: [ Read a biographical sketch about Frederick Faust, whose best-known pen name was Max Brand, and learn new and recent releases available in hard cover, paperback, and audio versions. Called the 'King of the Pulps,' Brand's output totaled approximately thirty million words or the equivalent of... ]

Brandvoldt, Peter - Multipublished western author of Once Late with a 38,Riding with the Devil's MIstress, and other titles.

Braun, Matt - Golden Spur award winner and author of 47 books and novels

Burns, Terry - Shows available books, substantial library of writing links, articles and stories, and links to other western and christian authors.

Butts, J. Lee - Homepage of author of Hell in the Nations, and Texas Bad Boys.

Carlson, Chip - Over 25 years of Carlson's research on Tom Horn compiled; includes stories and photos.
Meta Description: [ Tom Horn came to be known as the murderous cattle detective in Wyoming. ]

Cather, Willa - Pulitzer Prize winning novelist opened the door to women writing westerns.
Meta Description: [ Willa Cather Page, dedicated to 20th century American novelist. ]

Cheatham, Karyn Follis - Western author K Follis Cheatham gives information about her writing, books and photography.
Meta Description: [ Official website of author/speaker/editor K Follis Cheatham; featuring book excerpts, speaker presentations and calendar of events. ]

Cheek, Roland - Throwback to an earlier era, Roland Cheek holds a Ph.D from God's own Academy of Farthest Places and Wildest Things. With ten books, hundreds of magazine articles, and a 20-year syndicated newspaper column--all about western times in western places--Roland turns now to the type of writing he's trained a lifetime to create.

Chiaventone, Frederick J. - Interview with the novelist and screenwriter.
Meta Description: [ Frederick J. Chiaventone discusses his newest release is A Road We Do Not Know, A Novel of Custer at Little Big Horn, Chiaventone is a novelist, screenwriter, and military historian, and he frequently acts as an historical consultant and advisor to film and television productions to ... ]

Cobb, Colin - Western writer of short and long works has a new novel The Long Ride Home set for release soon.

Coldsmith, Don - Edgar Wolfe Award Winner - works include the Spanish Bit Saga, a series of 27 novels; awards include a Golden Spur Award for best original paperback for The Changing Wind from the Western Writers of America in 1990, and he was inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America in 2000.

Conley, Robert - Native American poet and novelist.
Meta Description: [ Native American poet and novelist, Robert Conley ]

Cotton, Ralph - Includes profile, book listings, photos, and related links.
Meta Description: [ Ralph Cotton's personal web site ]

Dickinson, Patti - Includes information on her latest books, as well as a biography and related links.
Meta Description: [ Meet Western author Patti Dickinson, featuring the novel Hollywood the Hard Way; A Cowboy's Journey. Read an excerpt from this novel. Author's website is hosted by American Western Ezine/ReadTheWest.com...The Web's Western magazine that celebrates Western and Rural life through original short fic... ]

Duncklee, John - Scroll down the directory page for this writer of western fiction, non-fiction, young adult books and poetry.
Meta Description: [ Fireworks Splice HTML ]

Estelman, Loren - Four time golden spur award winner also writes award winning mysteries.

Grove, Fred - 5-time Spur Award-winning Western author is interviewed by Jean Henry Mead.
Meta Description: [ Fred Grove, 5-time Spur Award-winning Western author, is interviewed by Jean Henry Mead. Fred Grove is profiled in this updated excerpt from Jean Henry-Mead's book, Maverick Writers; Candid Comments by fifty-two of the Best Western Writers in America on ReadTheWest.com American Western Ezine ]

Hendryx, James B. - Listings of his works, fan mailing list, and biographical material.
Meta Description: [ About James B. Hendryx (1880-1963) and his stories of the Yukon Gold Rush, the North, and the West. ]

Hirt, Douglas - Home of western author who also writes under Doug Hawkins and Jason Elder

Holt, A. H. - Author of western books, poetry, and other writings.

Howard, Lance - Also known as Howard Hopkins. Includes book listings and excerpts, biography, reviews, short stories in PDF format, and related links.
Meta Description: [ A site dedicated to author Howard Hopkins writing as Lance Howard and himself! ]

Jonas, Kirby - Biography, reviews, interview, and poetry and artwork by the author.

500 Lassiter, Karl - Lassiter is a pen name of Robert E. Vardeman and this site explores both fiction and non-fiction western writing

Law, Steven - Author and web publisher. Includes a profile, photo gallery, and information about his books.

Ledbetter, Suzann - western writer, contributing editor for Family Circle, newspaper columnist, humorist, speaker and biographer.
Meta Description: [ Website for Suzann Ledbetter, writer, contributing editor for Family Circle, newspaper columnist, humorist, speaker and biographer. ]

McCoy, Max - Multi-published western writer also well known for his Indiana Jones series in the adventure genre.

Metz, Leon - Popular lecturer in the Southwest on gunfighters western and military lore. Listings of the books he has written.
Meta Description: [ Leon Metz noted speaker, historian, and TV personality brings the Old West to life. He is best known for his books on gunfighters of the wild west. ]

Nesbitt, John D. - Western author and college instructor.

Nipper, Pat Decker - Author: historical fiction, romance, nonfiction; her books, articles, and background.
Meta Description: [ Author of western fiction, nonfiction, and romance ]

Overholser, Wayne D. - Multiple spur award winner wrote under a number of pen names such as John S. Daniels, Lee Leighton, Mark Morgan, Wayne Roberts, Dan J. Stevens, and Joseph Wayne.

Randisi, Robert J. - Western author and editor discusses his latest anthology TIN STAR and talks about his writing career in the Western genre. Interview in the May issue of ReadTheWest.com. (American Western Magazine).
Meta Description: [ Western author and editor Robert J. Randisi discusses his latest anthology TIN STAR and talks about his writing career in the Western genre. Interview in the May issue of ReadTheWest.com. ReadTheWest.com American Western Magazine ]

Recknor, Ellen - Two time Spur Award winner also writes Romances as Ellen Archer.

Reynolds, Clay - Native Texan novelist, scholar, and critic Clay Reynolds is the author of twelve books and more than seven hundred publications ranging from critical studies to short fiction and poems.

Rhodes, Eugene Manlove - Western Writer from New Mexico in the 20-30's

Richards, Dusty - Wrote The Lawless Land, The Natural,Dueces Wild and other books. Biography, author's itinerary and contact information.
Meta Description: [ Western Author, Rodeo Announcer, and Auctioneer, Dusty Richards ]

Rogers, Lincoln - Active member of the Western Writers of America and author of cowboy poetry, western short fiction and western journalism.
Meta Description: [ Home page of Lincoln Rogers. Western fiction, photography, journalism and cowboy poetry. ]

Schaefer, Jack - Author of western classic ShaneMonte Walsh, and other westerns. Died in 1991.

Sherman, Jory - Pulitzer Prize Nominated author and Spur award winner.
Meta Description: [ Author of The Ballad of Pinewood Lake - Jory Sherman began his literary career as a poet in San Francisco's famed North Beach during the heyday of the Beat Generation. His poetry was widely published when he began writing fiction. He has won numerous awards for his poetry and prose and was nomi... ]

Silva, Lee - Long time member of Western Writers of America has a new book out about the life and times of Wyatt Earpe.
Meta Description: [ Information on Lee A. Silva, the author of a new non-fiction book, Wyatt Earp A Biography of the Legend, Volume One: The Cowtown Years ]

Smith, Cotton - Author, historian and artist official site offers books, profile, and a variety of items of interest.

Swarthout, Glen - Twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction by his publishers and won a number of other awards for his novels, including a couple of Spurs and a Wrangler, as well as the Western Writers award for Lifetime Achievement.
Meta Description: [ The Official Website of Glendon Swarthout ]

Wheeler, Richard - Author, editor and historian; learn about his new books and meet the man who has written over fifty historical titles about the West.

Wilkinson, David Marion - Award-winning writer of novels and short stories. Includes author's comments, photo gallery, and related links.
Meta Description: [ Welcome to the personal Website of Author, David Marion Wilkinson ]

Wister, Owen - Best known for his book The Virginian. Coined the phrase When you call me that, smile made famous by Gary Cooper. Page at cowboypoetry.com talks about Wister and his works.

Wommack, Linda - Author of several books dealing with the history of the Colorado.
Meta Description: [ Website of Colorado author Linda Wommack. Featuring the book FROM THE GRAVE: A Roadside Guide to Colorado's Pioneer Cemeteries. Thoroughly researched, this 500-page book offers 1,000 mini-biographies, maps, epitaphs, and gravestone rubbings. ]