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Read the High Country A Guide to Western Books and Films
John Mort
Book Code: LU1346
ISBN: 1-59158-134-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-59158-134-5
508 pages
Libraries Unlimited
Publication: 10/30/2006
List Price: $60.00 (UK Sterling Price: £34.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Subjects: Reviews:
  • This guide focuses on Western books and films, listing about 2,000 titles categorized by subgenre and theme, such as Native Americans, mountain men, exploration, the army, range and ranch life, sagas, Western mysteries, and Western romances. Mort, a reference librarian, also provides a brief history of the genre and a discussion of six writers: Zane Grey, Max Brand, Ernest Haycox, Louis L'Amour, Elmer Kelton, and Larry McMurtry. Book records list publishing information and setting, summarize the plot, and note appeal to women, young adults, and book clubs, and if books have Christian themes, are out of print, or have received awards. Movie entries list cast and crew, production information, setting, and star rating, and include a plot summary. Indexes are by author/title/subject, settings, and film.
    —Reference & Research Book News     February 2007
  • For anyone not familiar with the Western, Read the High Country is a treasure trove, informing not only about the genre in books and film but also about the history of the American West. In fact, Mort includes in the appendix a "Western Time Line," from 28,000 BC to 1929 AD. One category in the "Traditional Westerns" section is "The Business of the West," revealing the importance of buffalo, railways, and mining to the commercial health of the America West. And, given the importance of the Native American in this time and place, the book is a great source for titles involving First Nations....With a conversational tone, Mort wonderfully succeeeds in guiding the readers' advisor to a much greater knowledge and understanding of the Western book and film. This book is likely to attract an entirely new readership to the genre.
    —Reference & User Services Quarterly     Summer 2007
  • This new entry in the Genreflecting Advisory Series covers almost 2,000 books, with emphasis on those published after 1995. In a departure for the series, it also treats around 250 films....[p]ublic libraries with a demand for readers' advisory in the western genres will find it useful.
    —Booklist/RA Corner     April 15, 2007
  • Texas reference librarian Mort compiles an ambitious work....Thousands of books and films are included and the appendices at the end are exhaustive, including a detailed historic time line.
    —VOYA     April 2007
  • If your familiarity with the genre [Western] doesn't extend past recognizing the name Louis L'Amour, John Mort rides to the rescue in Read the High Country: A Guide to Western Books and Films. He divides his list of nearly 2,000 books into "Traditional Westerns" (stories of settlers, gunfighters, ranchers, and the like) and "Nontraditional Westerns," such as mysteries, romances, and tales of the contemporary West. Then, because "the history of the Western is as much about movies as books," Mort includes a section on films available on DVD. The book is the latest addition to the Genreflecting Advisory Series that so many librarians have found indispensable in supporting readers' advisory.
    —American Libraries     March 2007
  • Read the High Country: A Guide to Western Books and Films is a no-nonsense book and film selection guide created especially for librarians and anyone else seeking to choose just the right cross-section of novels and movies from the Western genre. Describing approximately 2,000 titles grouped by subgenre and theme, Read the High Country includes the classics by such well-known authors as Max Brand, Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, Elmer Kelton, as well as contemporary "novels of the West" by authors such as Ann Proulx, Louise Erdrich, and Larry McMurtry, and much more. Cover works aimed toward readers in grades 10 and up, Read the High Country is an intuitively organized, easy-to-use media selection guide.
    —Midwest Book Review - Library Bookwatch     March 2007
Description: Often overlooked or written off as a dying genre, the Western, in fact, holds great appeal for many readers today. While traditional Westerns have managed to retain a loyal cadre of fans, new followers have been drawn in by recent iterations of and new directions in the genre written by such authors as Larry McMurtry, Annie Proulx, Louise Erdrich, and Tabor Evans; as well as contemporary authors writing in the traditional vein, such as Elmer Kelton. Westerns are also thriving within the flourishing Christian fiction genre.
This guide, intended to help you assist readers in their book (and film) selections, covers the entire spectrum of the Western, describing and mapping the genre--from classics that are still enjoyed by dedicated readers to more contemporary and literary "novels of the West" that feature the alluring themes of freedom, individualism, and moral regeneration set against the magnificent backdrop of the Western landscape. By grouping titles by subgenre and theme, and describing their features and plots, the book guides users to similar titles and read-alikes. Young adult and adult. Grades 10 and up. Mort takes a broad historical perspective, covering the Western from its origins in the 19th century to today. Selections represent the best and most popular titles as well as those commonly available in libraries. Chapters focus on past giants of the genre (Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Max Brand) as well as on current subgenres and themes such as Christian Westerns, Sagas, Western Romance, Western Mysteries, Young Adult Westerns, Native Americans, and Mountain Men. Western films, so integral to the evolution of the genre, are annotated in a separate chapter. Approximately 2,000 titles are covered, about 250 of them films. Coverage of books is broad and thorough; coverage of films is selective. In addition, there are a brief history of the genre, a Western timeline, information on resources and awards, and author/title, subject and geographic indexes. This is the definitive resource on the Western genre, and an essential readers' advisory and reference tool.
LC Card Number: 2006023647
LCC Class: Z1231
Dewey Class: 016
PDF Catalogs:
LU Academic Library Spring 2008.pdf
LU Public Library Spring 2008.pdf
Readers Advisory Catalog 2007.pdf
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