This book treats the word literature in the broadest terms and it deals with it in a way that relates to works both about the American West and/or from the West of America. Thus, it includes comment upon writings in the form of letters, essays, sketches, travelogues, newspaper articles, novels, poetry and drama. Even graphic novels and movies come briefly within its purview.
Since most of the chapters are historical studies, the meaning of the term “west” also has a range of meanings. Within the geography and history of the North American continent, the term has represented the beyond, the frontier, the wilderness and the edge, the boundary of civilisation as the European diaspora moved across the landscape, mainly in an east to west direction but also, on occasion, from north to south and even, to a lesser extent, like a backwash, from west to east. The literature of the west has sometimes been concerned to record the first-hand experiences of migrants; on other occasions, it has related imaginary tales of what and who they met in their travels as they lived out their lives as gunfighters, cowboys or homemakers. Therefore, among the themes that the book deals with are the topography and relationships with the environment of the American west, with its existing communities and with competing migrant groups. The literature deals with the physical world of discovery, of oil, gold and the evolution of settlements into towns but also with a conceptual world relating to concerns like authenticity, democracy, expansionism, family structures, politics or the stewardship of the land, ecological conservation and environmental justice. The cover illustration of the book brings the physical and the ideational together in an image called The Destroyer by Arthur Wesley Dow, a painting of the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon.
The collection comprises the Editor’s introduction and 16 chapters, the product of scholars in higher education institutions based in the USA and Europe. Chapters deal with the writings of early Spanish explorers, the role of women in the moving frontier, the city as the “New Wild West”, California as symbolic of both the pull of the West and the closure of the frontier and Native American writings about reservation life and relationships with the land. Other ethnic communities represented include the Chicana/o, African American and Asian American and their experiences of aspects of the west. Particular writers dealt with in more detail include Mark Twain, Elinor Pruitt Stewart, Helena María Viramontes, Gloria Anzaldúr, Raymond Chandler, John Steinbeck, Leslie Silko, Wallace Stegner and Cormac McCarthy, the latter being an interest of several of the contributors. The chapter on The Western and Film discusses the work of John Ford and Clint Eastwood, among others. Each chapter is reasonably well endowed with footnotes and works cited, some published as recently as 2015. There is a bibliography of further reading covering general texts, ethnic community writings and environmentalist literature.
An interesting element of the book is the 13-page chronology dating from 500 CE to 2012 and listing relevant publications with their dates and a selection of West- and US-related historical events. Inclusion in the list does not ensure any further discussion in the text. The book’s index is of names and publication titles only and does not include the chronology. It might have been more useful if it had also included at least some of the subjects covered.
The book is well designed and edited as one would expect from this publisher. The chapters progress broadly from the historical and general to the contemporary and specific. The paperback price is not excessive. The contributions to this collection will be of value to university students of American literature and the literature of the West in particular. The popularity of the fiction of the American west has been in decline in recent years and the emphasis here is on literature as high culture, so although there is some discussion of early journalism, little will be found on the contribution of dime novels, the pulps, comics, the myriad TV westerns of the 50s and 60s or even writers like Louis L’Amour, Charles Portis or Annie Proulx. However, this companion guide does seek to guide us into new lines of inquiry and is none the worse for that.
