Showing results for "Owen Wister" in Historical Fiction

He is the Virginian-the first fully realized cowboy hero in American literature, a near-mythic figure whose idealized image has profoundly influenced our national consciousness. This enduring work of fiction marks the birth of a legend that lives with us still.

This Raging Bull Publishing box set contains four classic Western books by Owen Wister: Lin Mclean (1897), Red Men and White (1895), The Jimmyjohn Boss (1900), and The Virginian (1902).

Ostensibly a love story, the novel really revolves around a highly mythologized version of the Johnson County War in 1890's Wyoming ... The novel takes the side of the large ranchers, and depicts the lynchings as frontier justice, meted out by the protagonist, who is a member of a natural aristocracy among men. Owen Wister was an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing The Virginian and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant.

"The Virginian's pistol came out, and his hand lay on the table, holding it unaimed. With a voice as gentle as ever, a voice that sounded almost like a caress, drawling a very little more than usual so that there was almost a space between each word he issued orders to the man Trampas: "When you call me that, smile!" And he looked at Trampas across the table. Yes, the voice was gentle. But in my ears it seemed as if somewhere the bell of death was ringing; and silence, like a stroke, fell on the large room."

A strong, silent stranger rides into the lawless lands of the western frontier, battles horse thieves, deals with unyielding scoundrels, and wins the heart of a schoolmarm. Owen Wister's 1902 classic---the first great novel of the American West---is rich in moral drama and vernacular wit. His hero---like knights of old---lives by an enduring code of chivalry and is governed by quiet courage and a deep sense of honor.