Great introduction to the Western genre for those who have not read it before, or want to establish a foundation. Selections are short enough that they would work for a class assignment.

In all honesty, I did not think highly of the Western as a genre prior to requesting the ARC on NetGalley. Then I realized I loved Cormac McCarthy's later works as well as Butcher's Crossing by John Williams, so maybe I was wrong about my own tastes. And I'm glad I second guessed myself.

It gets off to a shaky start as The Ox-Bow Incident takes its sweet time to introduce the characters and plot and I found it very easy to put down and put off reading for a while. At around the halfway mark, it starts moving and doesn't stop until that gut punch of an ending.

Shane felt a little simplistic in terms of prose, but was an enjoyable story. Disappointed my schools never taught it as it would have had a much more significant impact on a younger me.

It ends with two absolute contemporary classics, The Searchers and Warlock.

A great addition the Library of America canon that would convert anyone in doubt of the legitimacy of the genre

Beautiful collection of four great western novels—I have read these novels at a number of different times of my life and I keep coming back to them for their exciting stories encapsulating the truths of our lives. Moving , thrilling and full fo history I can unequivocally whole heartedly recommend each novel in this collection. Congratulations to Library of America for another great anthology of American writing.

So refreshing to re-read these classic westerns, especially The Searchers. All of these novels are landmarks of the Western genre, and greatly deserve a read.

I’m a great fan of westerns, and feel that they are a much underrated and often dismissed genre. This collection should convince anyone that they are worth exploring. The four included here are some of the best ever written and will hopefully encourage readers to discover other titles.

The classic western is a "feel good" story where the good guys and the bad guys are clearly defined and the law is enforced with a gun and a rope. These 4 stories should be required reading for everyone. The territories are defined by the strength of their residents with clear, wonderfully defined backgrounds on both. When they say CLASSIC, these stories are what they are speaking of. SHANE alone has been read, watched and quoted so many times, most people do not know where the lines began. Good stories, great characters and awesome descriptions of the territories without gore and sex on every page, make these four authors a must read.

"Rediscover the golden age of the Western with this collection of four unforgettable novels of honor, adventure, and violence set against the magnificent landscapes of the American frontier.

The heroic exploits and violent struggles of the Old West come alive once more through this one-of-a-kind collection of four thrilling novels. Edited by Ron Hansen, this deluxe hardcover edition shows that the 1940s and 1950s was a golden age for the Western novel.

In the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Ox-Bow Incident, Walter van Tilburg Clark explores the thin line between civilization and barbarism through the story of a lynch mob that targets three innocent men, exposing a dark authoritarian impulse at work the American frontier. Set in Wyoming in 1889, a time when ranchers and cattle companies waged war with each other, Jack Schaefer's iconic Shane deploys many of the genre's most essential elements, brilliantly filtered through a boy's perceptions. Alan Le May's The Searchers, the basis for John Ford's cinematic masterpiece starring John Wayne, follows the dogged quest of two men to rescue a young girl taken prisoner by Comanche warriors. And Oakley Hall's Warlock, a novel that anticipates the later books of Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry, casts the battle for control of a southwestern outpost as a bloody saga pitting a marauding gang of cowboys and rustlers against the town's defenders, led by the legendary gunslinger Clay Blaisedell. All four novels were memorably adapted for the screen, and their gripping stories - told with brisk narrative energy, psychological depth, and laconic humor - have contributed unforgettably to the Western's enduring legacy in American culture."

You couldn't do any better than these four books to show you why the West is iconic and still alive!

4 strong westerns together in one big book. Two of these are included in Goodreads list of Best Westerns. I won't review each book here, but getting this collection should be an easy decision for fans of Westerns. Certainly, they're all not of equal quality, but they all solid stories. And together are a very good collection. Good stuff.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!