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The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour #1
The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Frontier Stories, Vol. 1
With more than 120 titles still in print, Louis L'Amour is recognized the world over as one of the most prolific and popular American authors in history. Though he met with phenomenal success in every genre he tried, the form that put him on the map was the short story. Now this great writer— The Wall Street Journal recently compared with Jack London and Robert Louis Stevenson—will receive his due as a great storyteller. This volume kicks off a series that will, when complete, anthologize all of L'Amour’s short fiction, volume by handsome volume.
Here, in Volume One, is a treasure-trove of 35 frontier tales for his millions of fans and for those who have yet to discover L'Amour’s thrilling prose—and his vital role in capturing the spirit of the Old West for generations to come.
Here, in Volume One, is a treasure-trove of 35 frontier tales for his millions of fans and for those who have yet to discover L'Amour’s thrilling prose—and his vital role in capturing the spirit of the Old West for generations to come.
424 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
658 people are currently reading
1282 people want to read
About the author
Louis L'Amour
995 books3,463 followersLouis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
December 8, 2020
Note, Dec. 8, 2020: When I read short story collections intermittently over a long period of time, my reactions are similarly written piecemeal, while they're fresh in my mind. That gives the reviews a choppy, and often repetitive, quality. Recently, I had to condense and rearrange one of these into a unified whole because of Goodreads' length limit; and I was so pleased with the result that I decided to give every one of these a similar edit! Accordingly, I've now edited this one.
L'Amour's many Western, or "Frontier," short stories have been gathered together in a three-volume set (itself part of a larger 7-vol. collection of all of the author's short fiction), under the imprint of Bantam Dell. (Goodreads only has records for each individual volume, not for the larger or smaller collections.) Since L'Amour is my wife's favorite author and his Western writing is what she particularly appreciates, I got her all three volumes for Christmas a number of years ago. And since I also greatly like the author's fiction, I eventually read all three volumes as well.
This particular volume has 35 stories, the only one I'd read before being the lead story, "The Gift of Cochise." That one probably remains my personal favorite, though it's actually hard to pick a favorite story here. Every one of then was an absolute delight to read! In most single-author collections, a reader is almost certain to find some stories better than others. But where quality is concerned, L'Amour is a remarkably consistent writer. His plotting is excellent, his characterizations superb, his evocation of his varied Western settings masterful (the fruit of a lifetime of research, never displayed ostentatiously), and his prose style often lyrical. More crucially, his literary vision and worldview are grounded in a rock-solid moral clarity (which isn't the same thing as sanctimoniousness) and an optimism that remains well aware of the possibility of the tragic. I would consider him easily equal to any of the other masters of the short story format that I've read, regardless of genre.
Most readers expect Westerns to be predictable rehashes of a few cliched' situations and characters, with a heavy emphasis on shootouts. L'Amour's tales don't fit this stereotype; each situation and cast of characters is quite unique. (Within the limits of the "Western" scope, there's also a wide range of geographical and chronological settings.) Many of the stories have no gun violence at all, because they don't need any. Where it appears, it isn't glorified (and characters who can use intelligence to avoid fighting are presented positively), though the author does extol courage and the necessity of standing up for what's right and just. The previously-mentioned story clearly demonstrates his respect for Native Americans (who often are stereotyped in Western fiction as malevolent and virtually sub-human) and his appreciation for their values and culture. And while his protagonists, typically for the genre, are male in all the of the stories here (though Angie Lowe in the first story is really a co-protagonist!), he has no trouble depicting strong female characters who face a harsh land and challenging demands without flinching, and easily earn our respect for it.
L'Amour's writing here is, fundamentally, a celebration of virtue; and the constellation of virtues he celebrates are primarily courage, self-reliance, responsibility, industry, fairness, neighborly kindness, honesty and integrity, and respect for others' rights and dignity. These are sometimes referred to by critics (and not infrequently with a sneer) as "masculine" virtues; but as the author makes clear, they're actually just plain old unisex virtues, that grace either gender. Above, I've noted his penchant for strong heroines who command respect through their character. There's a very clear note of equalitarian feminism in these stories (as I've often said, you don't have to be female to be a feminist). He says of one lady, "...this woman was one to walk beside a man, not behind him. She had shown it since the first day they were two together, a team, working toward a common end." And the same observation could be made of a number of his leading ladies. (As the founder of Goodreads' Action Heroine Fans group, I also appreciate the fact that several of these women are willing, when there's fighting that needs to be done, to pick up a Winchester and acquit themselves admirably with it.)
Not a few of these stories feature a good man and a good woman recognizing each other and choosing to make a home together. In some cases, this happen when they haven't known each other long. Some might say that this kind of "insta-love" isn't realistic. For that time and place, though, it is. Men and women of that day were socialized to view marriage as a good thing, not a horrible trap to be fled from and avoided, and both genders had a felt and very real need for a partner from the other, both bringing their skills and practiced roles to the table for mutual benefit and support. They had the interest and the perception to size each other up relatively quickly in terms of the character qualities that matter, in the normal interactions of life (and sometimes under stress situations), despite the fact that they didn't date the way we generally do. (Or perhaps because of it; conventional modern "dating" can tend to become a kind of ritualized dance that obstructs natural self-revelation more than it encourages it, IMO.)
As far as individual stories go, like many short stories, these can be hard to comment on without spoilers. I can say that "The Strong Shall Live" is one of the best tales of "man vs. nature," in a struggle for survival against long odds, that I've ever read; you experience the protagonist's suffering of heat and thirst in a very palpable way. Two of the stories, "Booty for a Badman" and "Ironwood Station," feature scions of two of the large, extended families who (over several generations) show up in a number of L'Amour's novels and stories --respectively, the Sacketts and the Talons. Hard as it was for stories to stand out in a gathering of this quality, "The Moon of the Trees Broken by Snow," a tale of Native Americans in the Southwest before the advent of the whites, did manage to. (A word of "reader-response criticism" is in order for that one; I learned from it what is actually meant by using a star as a fixed point in finding one's direction. No writer I'd read previously had explained the technique clearly enough for me to understand it the way L'Amour does here.)
At 93 pages, one of the selections, "Rustler Roundup," is actually a full-scale novella. To my surprise, I discovered that it's apparently never been published as a stand-alone book; rather than reading it intermittently between other books, I saved it for last and read it just like I would a book. And quite a read it was; it's a barn-burner of a story, with everything a Western fan could want: a high-stakes conflict involving characters you care about, an ably-crafted plot with genuine suspense, an element of mystery, clean romance, and blazing six-gun/Winchester action. It was a really gripping read that totally engrossed me from the first page!
Another general observation can be made in conclusion. Unlike Les Savage Jr., L'Amour rarely gives us a specific identification of the geographic location of a story, beyond the obvious fact that it's in the West somewhere. Perhaps his motive for this was to make them more broadly appealing, or to let the reader set them specifically in his/her own mind. But despite this, each tale has a very palpable sense of place; he describes the topography, weather, flora and fauna of his settings in a way that brings it to life vividly for the reader, and that suggests that he often had very specific settings in mind even though he didn't name them.
This collection is a treat for any reader who can appreciate the fiction of the Western frontier, or fiction with a moral grounding. Some of my Goodreads friends describe some fiction as "brain candy." To continue the food metaphor, these tales are as compulsively readable; but rather than being like candy, they're more like delectable thick slices of homemade bread baked with caring and skill, spread with real butter, and served hot along with slabs of nourishing, protein-laden country ham or dairy-made cheese. They're a literary feast that tastes great, but also nourishes in substantial ways. Vol. 1 was one of my most pleasurable reads in 2016, though I didn't count it as a whole book (I reckoned Vols. 1-3 as a single book). In the past, I've made the statement, based on quite a few low-quality Westerns that I read in my younger days, that I'm just not a particular fan of the genre (with some atypical exceptions). But if I'd started my exposure to it with L'Amour's work, I don't think I'd have dismissed it so readily; and he may make a Western fan out of me yet!
L'Amour's many Western, or "Frontier," short stories have been gathered together in a three-volume set (itself part of a larger 7-vol. collection of all of the author's short fiction), under the imprint of Bantam Dell. (Goodreads only has records for each individual volume, not for the larger or smaller collections.) Since L'Amour is my wife's favorite author and his Western writing is what she particularly appreciates, I got her all three volumes for Christmas a number of years ago. And since I also greatly like the author's fiction, I eventually read all three volumes as well.
This particular volume has 35 stories, the only one I'd read before being the lead story, "The Gift of Cochise." That one probably remains my personal favorite, though it's actually hard to pick a favorite story here. Every one of then was an absolute delight to read! In most single-author collections, a reader is almost certain to find some stories better than others. But where quality is concerned, L'Amour is a remarkably consistent writer. His plotting is excellent, his characterizations superb, his evocation of his varied Western settings masterful (the fruit of a lifetime of research, never displayed ostentatiously), and his prose style often lyrical. More crucially, his literary vision and worldview are grounded in a rock-solid moral clarity (which isn't the same thing as sanctimoniousness) and an optimism that remains well aware of the possibility of the tragic. I would consider him easily equal to any of the other masters of the short story format that I've read, regardless of genre.
Most readers expect Westerns to be predictable rehashes of a few cliched' situations and characters, with a heavy emphasis on shootouts. L'Amour's tales don't fit this stereotype; each situation and cast of characters is quite unique. (Within the limits of the "Western" scope, there's also a wide range of geographical and chronological settings.) Many of the stories have no gun violence at all, because they don't need any. Where it appears, it isn't glorified (and characters who can use intelligence to avoid fighting are presented positively), though the author does extol courage and the necessity of standing up for what's right and just. The previously-mentioned story clearly demonstrates his respect for Native Americans (who often are stereotyped in Western fiction as malevolent and virtually sub-human) and his appreciation for their values and culture. And while his protagonists, typically for the genre, are male in all the of the stories here (though Angie Lowe in the first story is really a co-protagonist!), he has no trouble depicting strong female characters who face a harsh land and challenging demands without flinching, and easily earn our respect for it.
L'Amour's writing here is, fundamentally, a celebration of virtue; and the constellation of virtues he celebrates are primarily courage, self-reliance, responsibility, industry, fairness, neighborly kindness, honesty and integrity, and respect for others' rights and dignity. These are sometimes referred to by critics (and not infrequently with a sneer) as "masculine" virtues; but as the author makes clear, they're actually just plain old unisex virtues, that grace either gender. Above, I've noted his penchant for strong heroines who command respect through their character. There's a very clear note of equalitarian feminism in these stories (as I've often said, you don't have to be female to be a feminist). He says of one lady, "...this woman was one to walk beside a man, not behind him. She had shown it since the first day they were two together, a team, working toward a common end." And the same observation could be made of a number of his leading ladies. (As the founder of Goodreads' Action Heroine Fans group, I also appreciate the fact that several of these women are willing, when there's fighting that needs to be done, to pick up a Winchester and acquit themselves admirably with it.)
Not a few of these stories feature a good man and a good woman recognizing each other and choosing to make a home together. In some cases, this happen when they haven't known each other long. Some might say that this kind of "insta-love" isn't realistic. For that time and place, though, it is. Men and women of that day were socialized to view marriage as a good thing, not a horrible trap to be fled from and avoided, and both genders had a felt and very real need for a partner from the other, both bringing their skills and practiced roles to the table for mutual benefit and support. They had the interest and the perception to size each other up relatively quickly in terms of the character qualities that matter, in the normal interactions of life (and sometimes under stress situations), despite the fact that they didn't date the way we generally do. (Or perhaps because of it; conventional modern "dating" can tend to become a kind of ritualized dance that obstructs natural self-revelation more than it encourages it, IMO.)
As far as individual stories go, like many short stories, these can be hard to comment on without spoilers. I can say that "The Strong Shall Live" is one of the best tales of "man vs. nature," in a struggle for survival against long odds, that I've ever read; you experience the protagonist's suffering of heat and thirst in a very palpable way. Two of the stories, "Booty for a Badman" and "Ironwood Station," feature scions of two of the large, extended families who (over several generations) show up in a number of L'Amour's novels and stories --respectively, the Sacketts and the Talons. Hard as it was for stories to stand out in a gathering of this quality, "The Moon of the Trees Broken by Snow," a tale of Native Americans in the Southwest before the advent of the whites, did manage to. (A word of "reader-response criticism" is in order for that one; I learned from it what is actually meant by using a star as a fixed point in finding one's direction. No writer I'd read previously had explained the technique clearly enough for me to understand it the way L'Amour does here.)
At 93 pages, one of the selections, "Rustler Roundup," is actually a full-scale novella. To my surprise, I discovered that it's apparently never been published as a stand-alone book; rather than reading it intermittently between other books, I saved it for last and read it just like I would a book. And quite a read it was; it's a barn-burner of a story, with everything a Western fan could want: a high-stakes conflict involving characters you care about, an ably-crafted plot with genuine suspense, an element of mystery, clean romance, and blazing six-gun/Winchester action. It was a really gripping read that totally engrossed me from the first page!
Another general observation can be made in conclusion. Unlike Les Savage Jr., L'Amour rarely gives us a specific identification of the geographic location of a story, beyond the obvious fact that it's in the West somewhere. Perhaps his motive for this was to make them more broadly appealing, or to let the reader set them specifically in his/her own mind. But despite this, each tale has a very palpable sense of place; he describes the topography, weather, flora and fauna of his settings in a way that brings it to life vividly for the reader, and that suggests that he often had very specific settings in mind even though he didn't name them.
This collection is a treat for any reader who can appreciate the fiction of the Western frontier, or fiction with a moral grounding. Some of my Goodreads friends describe some fiction as "brain candy." To continue the food metaphor, these tales are as compulsively readable; but rather than being like candy, they're more like delectable thick slices of homemade bread baked with caring and skill, spread with real butter, and served hot along with slabs of nourishing, protein-laden country ham or dairy-made cheese. They're a literary feast that tastes great, but also nourishes in substantial ways. Vol. 1 was one of my most pleasurable reads in 2016, though I didn't count it as a whole book (I reckoned Vols. 1-3 as a single book). In the past, I've made the statement, based on quite a few low-quality Westerns that I read in my younger days, that I'm just not a particular fan of the genre (with some atypical exceptions). But if I'd started my exposure to it with L'Amour's work, I don't think I'd have dismissed it so readily; and he may make a Western fan out of me yet!
June 28, 2014
My first read by L'more was "Off the Mangrove Coast". I have been hooked ever since.
September 23, 2014
A True Story Teller
I just like Louis L'amour stories. There is a simplicity to them that is a joy to read. Louis L'amour is a story teller and that is what you sometimes with a good story. The characters are either good or bad. Sometimes they start off bad but come to that fork in the road where they have to decide what they are going to do ride away from their life or continue on with the life of a bad man. Most chose unwisely and pay for their misdeeds and other just lose out to the better man. If you enjoy stories of men and women make a place for themselves and those who follow them. Then I recommend this book. True you may have read some of these stories before, but it doesn't hurt to read them again. It is like seeing an friend you haven't seen in awhile.
I just like Louis L'amour stories. There is a simplicity to them that is a joy to read. Louis L'amour is a story teller and that is what you sometimes with a good story. The characters are either good or bad. Sometimes they start off bad but come to that fork in the road where they have to decide what they are going to do ride away from their life or continue on with the life of a bad man. Most chose unwisely and pay for their misdeeds and other just lose out to the better man. If you enjoy stories of men and women make a place for themselves and those who follow them. Then I recommend this book. True you may have read some of these stories before, but it doesn't hurt to read them again. It is like seeing an friend you haven't seen in awhile.
February 10, 2021
With a collection of 35 stories I figured there'd be some I didn't like or would skim. This book is excellent, so much so that I would love to buy a copy to keep (I read a library copy). Every story was gripping, the resolutions satisfying, and the experience one I look forward to repeating.
May 31, 2020
Things usually wind up a little too good for the protagonists; however, these stories are entertaining and have some real grit.
June 22, 2019
I liked all the stories in this collection, some more than others, though I didn't like the narrator for these as much as for another collection I'd listened to, which influenced the rating, possibly more than is fair.
November 10, 2024
Louis L'amour is the ultimate comfort read for me. While I'm not the biggest short story fan this collection was just a blast for me.
Read
October 9, 2024More L'Amour please!
December 21, 2011
I'm not sure what made me sample a few of Louis L'Amour's short story collections on my Kindle. I was surprised to find his stories compelling and so picked up this collection via Paperback Swap. He has a talent for making you speed to the end of the story even when you're fairly sure you know what will happen ... because you're only fairly sure and often he flips the story just a bit on you.
FINAL
I am now officially a fan of Louis L'Amour's short stories. Eventually I will try a novel but for now I have another short story collection on my stacks, so that will come first, although probably in 2012
FINAL
I am now officially a fan of Louis L'Amour's short stories. Eventually I will try a novel but for now I have another short story collection on my stacks, so that will come first, although probably in 2012
July 4, 2022
My first time reading L'Amour. Still not sure what all the hype is about. The stories weren't bad, they weren't great either. I had a question about the portrayal of women in his writing: I thought it was, refreshingly, good. His female characters were strong, independent, smart and savvy women who could, usually, run circles around the men. While I didn't enjoy the stories overall, I did find this aspect appealing.
August 21, 2017
I've read everything Louis L'Amour ever wrote, sometimes more than once. I recently got this collection and reread it. When I first read his work, I was a lot younger and it was before I started writing. Now, going over this again older, as a writer, I have to say I'm deeply impressed.
You could teach master classes in writing off L'Amour's work. He mostly wrote Westerns, and I can see that turning some people off right there. Well, don't let it. He has great characters, wonderful settings, and stories with twists you wouldn't expect. The hero doesn't always get the girl, and in several of them, the girl saves herself anyway. And remember how long ago he wrote.
Among my favorite in this collection were:
Dutchman's Flat which has a great twist on the 'man wrongly accused' kind of story.
Trap of Gold which is almost more a thriller than a Western.
One Night Stand and Marshall of Canyon Gap which are variations on the theme of the reputation being more important than the man.
The Moon of the Trees is a Western spin on a story I'll bet everyone knows.
This is a fantastic collection by a truly masterful writer. I can't recommend it enough, whether or not you like Westerns.
You could teach master classes in writing off L'Amour's work. He mostly wrote Westerns, and I can see that turning some people off right there. Well, don't let it. He has great characters, wonderful settings, and stories with twists you wouldn't expect. The hero doesn't always get the girl, and in several of them, the girl saves herself anyway. And remember how long ago he wrote.
Among my favorite in this collection were:
Dutchman's Flat which has a great twist on the 'man wrongly accused' kind of story.
Trap of Gold which is almost more a thriller than a Western.
One Night Stand and Marshall of Canyon Gap which are variations on the theme of the reputation being more important than the man.
The Moon of the Trees is a Western spin on a story I'll bet everyone knows.
This is a fantastic collection by a truly masterful writer. I can't recommend it enough, whether or not you like Westerns.
January 18, 2021
Truly a troubadour. A Master among master storytellers.
I read this in between others books, when I needed soothing for shorter time periods.
I read this in between others books, when I needed soothing for shorter time periods.
April 24, 2023
I have always liked Westerns but never read much l’Amour. I found this collection on Amazon for a very reasonable price. 😊 I mostly enjoyed the stories and, because they were short, they worked very well in between longer books and when I just needed a little something.
July 3, 2023
This short story collection by L’Amour was about life on the frontier. Stories were about gun fights, horse and cattle rustling, the tough life of a frontiers man, the beauty of the country, and more gunfights. Westerns are not my favorite genre, but I’m glad I read this book by the master of western novels.
April 3, 2008
My son gave this book to me for my last birthday. I'm all about sustainability these days and this book has opened my eyes to our roots in these united states. We were not always obsessed with accumulating more "stuff". When the west was being "won" we made a lot a sacrifices to survive. That included being very resourceful with everything. We still don't exactly know what we have and how to change the world, but I believe we are on a path in that direction.
March 2, 2009
I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
Mr. L'Amour's characters are engaging: the frontier women are strong and the outlaws are sensitive. His historical settings of deserts, frontier towns and mining shacks are memorable. And his plots are fun, suspenseful and unforgettable.
I couldn't put it down. I'm officialy a L'Amour convert.
Mr. L'Amour's characters are engaging: the frontier women are strong and the outlaws are sensitive. His historical settings of deserts, frontier towns and mining shacks are memorable. And his plots are fun, suspenseful and unforgettable.
I couldn't put it down. I'm officialy a L'Amour convert.
June 8, 2016
I love L'Amour's style of writing. I have truly missed him since his death. the man simply knew how to tell a story whether it be short or long. His descriptions of the West seem to be exactly right , even perfect . Finding this set of short stories was like finding new L'Amour stories that I had not seen before. The thing about L'Amour is you never mind reading a story of his twice.
October 2, 2021
This is an extremely good set of his short stories. I had read two of the stories previously. There are two Tell Sackett stories and one Talon short story. There is only one longer story (over a hundred pages). Most stories are 10-20 pages. I have had kept it at my bedside and read a couple per night. Interesting short story at the end.
September 30, 2013
Every story in this book transports the reader to the old West. I felt the heat and dust of the desert, the cattle ranges, the loneliness of the frontier. Love L'Amour's writing style and so glad I found this book in a box that someone was tossing
September 20, 2015
Something in this for every lover of western tales. Quite a few short stories plus a novella.
Every now and again, everyone should read a L'Amour story or two.
Every now and again, everyone should read a L'Amour story or two.
May 15, 2016
Wonderful stories of the frontier written by a skilled wordsmith. If you've ever wondered what the Louis L'Amour fuss is about, try these stories, and you'll be hooked.
December 20, 2018
Louis L’Amour brings the Wild West alive in this series of vignettes about the American Frontier. L’Amour brings characters alive in the stunning landscapes he creates and creates an emotional connection to them that you can feel as you read along.
The beauty of this book is in its utter lightness, lack of substance. The stories are so easy to read, you are never really challenged by any of the ideas presented in them. You are thrilled and left wondering what is To happens next, but you are never asked to formulate any ideas or change opinions as you go. The hero wins in the end, the girls swoon for him. The short stories all follow this essential pattern if you strip them down enough. That was probably my only qualm with the book, I wanted L’Amour to surprise me with a gunfight in which the bad guy drew first and shit straight, but in the end, the good guy always won.
This book was my guilty pleasure read, if there ever has been one. An escape from the world of substance for fifteen or twenty minutes as I went back and panned gold alongside an old miner or rode into the sunset with the victorious Marshall. The short story format was perfect, as if the story had been months in building I would have been left down by the vanilla ending. I would want to grow somehow from a book of any real length, but a short story told around the campfire doesn’t need a real message at all. This book is told for pure entertainment, which I desperately needed while tackling books like Overstory and Ship of Fools, behemoth books that challenge and frustrate. I think I’ll join him for his next adventure in volume II.
The beauty of this book is in its utter lightness, lack of substance. The stories are so easy to read, you are never really challenged by any of the ideas presented in them. You are thrilled and left wondering what is To happens next, but you are never asked to formulate any ideas or change opinions as you go. The hero wins in the end, the girls swoon for him. The short stories all follow this essential pattern if you strip them down enough. That was probably my only qualm with the book, I wanted L’Amour to surprise me with a gunfight in which the bad guy drew first and shit straight, but in the end, the good guy always won.
This book was my guilty pleasure read, if there ever has been one. An escape from the world of substance for fifteen or twenty minutes as I went back and panned gold alongside an old miner or rode into the sunset with the victorious Marshall. The short story format was perfect, as if the story had been months in building I would have been left down by the vanilla ending. I would want to grow somehow from a book of any real length, but a short story told around the campfire doesn’t need a real message at all. This book is told for pure entertainment, which I desperately needed while tackling books like Overstory and Ship of Fools, behemoth books that challenge and frustrate. I think I’ll join him for his next adventure in volume II.
January 16, 2022
Well, this is a single volume of the complete set that currently takes up shelf space in my library. I don't mind Louis L'Amour too much but he is not a favorite either. Although I do like some of his stories. The last similar book of his that I read, volume 3, was okay, I liked a handful of stories in it. This book is no exception, I liked about a third of the stories therein but definitely not all or even most of them.
The stories I did like were That Man from Bitter Sands, From the Listening Hills, Trap of Gold (my favorite in this book), The Lonesome Gods, The Skull and the Arrow, Caprock Rancher, Dead-End Drift, The Defense of Sentinel (a tie for my favorite), War Party, Duffy's Man, The Strong Shall Live, To Make a Stand, One for the Pot, and Home is the Hunter. I found these easy to read, entertaining, liked the central characters, and felt these stories were the least overwritten.
The author does seem to have a problem with cutting the fat away from his stories especially the longer form tales such as Rustler Roundup. I really do not like getting bogged down in unnecessary prose or details that serve no real purpose in a story. This is a common problem amongst the pulp writers as they were paid by the word. Probably the main reason the Big Three of pulp and weird fiction were not so successful in their lifetimes as other less skilled but more prolific scribes. But that is neither here nor there.
I am glad I read this book if not all of the stories in it. I would recommend this book if you like Old West pulp stories especially if you can pick the book up for a song.
September 5, 2019
This is a nice collection of short western stories from one of the masters of the genre. I enjoy westerns, whether they be movies, TV shows or books. Simple stories about the frontier. Cowboys and Indians, outlaws and small town sheriffs, frontier justice and even some strong female characters that aren't floozies or secondary to the male characters. I have just one minor disappointment, and it's not meant to be a complaint but an observation. Some (most) of the stories in this volume would be better suited to a younger, more adolescent audience. The stories are very short and there is not much plot or character development. These are the stories you would have likely read in a western-themed pulp-style periodical from the early decades of the last century. I would have loved this book when I was maybe 12 or 13 and my dad would take me to the library and I would get to pick a couple of books to take home and immerse myself in. This is one I would have picked back then. However as a grown-up person I prefer a little more depth and story development than these short stories are able to offer. Again, that is not a condemnation or criticism of this fine collection of short stories from a great American writer, simply a personal observation and my own humble opinion.
I'll say again that this is a fine book of short western stories. However if you are an adult and prefer more depth of plot and character development I would refer you to any of the many full length novels Zane Grey wrote over the decades. You will likely find the longer books much more satisfying.
I'll say again that this is a fine book of short western stories. However if you are an adult and prefer more depth of plot and character development I would refer you to any of the many full length novels Zane Grey wrote over the decades. You will likely find the longer books much more satisfying.
November 19, 2021
Louis L'Amour is a gifted storyteller, and his short stories are incredible short reads. He takes a short story to a satisfying conclusion, without leaving the feeling that the story was unfinished or chopped off at the end. I've been a lifelong lover of anything Western, and he brings the Old West vividly to life... the people, the land, the history.
I got the entire collection of his Collected Short Stories years ago through Book of the Month Club, but just recently started reading them. I never leave the house without a volume anymore... the perfect entertaining read whenever I'm stuck waiting somewhere, or just for taking to the park or the beach. Or, at night, curled up in front of the fireplace. I read a lot of Zane Grey novels when I was young, and Louis L'Amour is the perfect continuation of that style of Western writing.
I got the entire collection of his Collected Short Stories years ago through Book of the Month Club, but just recently started reading them. I never leave the house without a volume anymore... the perfect entertaining read whenever I'm stuck waiting somewhere, or just for taking to the park or the beach. Or, at night, curled up in front of the fireplace. I read a lot of Zane Grey novels when I was young, and Louis L'Amour is the perfect continuation of that style of Western writing.
December 4, 2018
A very enjoyable collection of (mostly) short frontier stories that cover a variety of escalating circumstances, relationships, conflicts and survival situations in the American West. L'Amour has a simple and direct energy in his writing that neatly reflects the nature of his characters and their storylines, bringing to life the environments and personal characteristics of each tale. I was impressed by the scope of this collection, and even though many stories follow expected pathways through to their conclusion, there's often an added element or two that builds the narrative into something much more compelling that a simple good/bad revenge plot, or similar commonplace western arc.
December 18, 2017
There are many good western writers. And many good story tellers. But few can compare to the tales from Louis L'Amour. His short stories and novellas are almost perfect. His characters are fully dressed and presented no matter how short the tale. While he repeats many themes of the good vs bad, people seeking to make amends, the hard pressed who will not just surrender, the seekers and the wanderers each new story has a different appeal and quality. This first volume of his shorter works covers much ground. Only L'Amour lets us into each story as no others of the genre can.
March 30, 2020
A great collection of short stories. I can see the comparison to Jack London that people often make. Like all short story collections some were good and others not so much. However, on balance, if you're looking for a good western tale there were a lot of them in this book. I was honestly surprised how much variety L'amour was able to get our of the western setting. There are some very inventive stories in this book including a really solid novella. Overall, it's a tremendous value for a book and your are almost certain to find something you like in it.
July 17, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed the stories in this book. This is a new book that I didn't know existed. My mother-in-law gave it to me because she knew I love reading Louis L'Amour. There is a nice variety of short stories and they are all westerns. Some are very short and some have several chapters to them. They all highlight the wonderful imagination of Mr. L'Amour. If you are looking for a book that you can read while to are waiting in an office or traveling or sitting on a beach then this is that book.
July 19, 2025
Okay, it's absolutely full of cliches. The guy left for dead in the desert who survives and takes his revenge. The drifter who helps a widow woman defend her ranch. The gunman who everyone's written off but has still got it. And so on - what else do you expect from Louis L'Amour? But they're all written masterfully, so if you're craving a dose of classic Western, this is what you want. And they're not all cliches - there are a few other gems in there. They're not demanding or challenging or great literature, but damn, they're good reading.
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