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The Last Cowboys Of San Geronimo: A Compelling Contemporary Western – Cowboy Brothers, Betrayal, and Murder Across California
“One of the most compelling novels I’ve read in a long time.” —Eowyn Ivey
“Shares the trail with the likes of Edward Abbey, Cormac McCarthy, and Larry McMurtry.” —Craig Johnson, best-selling author of the W alt Longmire Mysteries, the basis for the hit show Longmire
When Silas Van Loy flees home on horseback to avoid capture for his brother’s murder, he is followed by both the police and his brother’s wife, Lena, who is intent on exacting revenge. She reluctantly lets her trusted stable assistant join her in a journey across the wilds of Northern California in the hopes of catching Silas for one final showdown. Stansel follows the chase and shares the story of the brothers’ rise from hardscrabble childhood to their reign as the region’s preeminent horse trainers, tracking the tense sibling rivalry that ultimately leads to the elder’s death.
A “fast-paced, moving narrative in which family loyalty is tested, broken, and redeemed in unexpected ways,”* The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo will satisfy fans of Kent Haruf, Charles Portis, Molly Gloss, and Smith Henderson, and establish Stansel as a new voice in this grand tradition.
* BookPage
“Shares the trail with the likes of Edward Abbey, Cormac McCarthy, and Larry McMurtry.” —Craig Johnson, best-selling author of the W alt Longmire Mysteries, the basis for the hit show Longmire
When Silas Van Loy flees home on horseback to avoid capture for his brother’s murder, he is followed by both the police and his brother’s wife, Lena, who is intent on exacting revenge. She reluctantly lets her trusted stable assistant join her in a journey across the wilds of Northern California in the hopes of catching Silas for one final showdown. Stansel follows the chase and shares the story of the brothers’ rise from hardscrabble childhood to their reign as the region’s preeminent horse trainers, tracking the tense sibling rivalry that ultimately leads to the elder’s death.
A “fast-paced, moving narrative in which family loyalty is tested, broken, and redeemed in unexpected ways,”* The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo will satisfy fans of Kent Haruf, Charles Portis, Molly Gloss, and Smith Henderson, and establish Stansel as a new voice in this grand tradition.
* BookPage
208 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2017
About the author
Ian Stansel
11 books27 followersIan Stansel is the author of the novel The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo and the short story collection Everybody's Irish, a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction.
Ian holds an MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Houston, where from 2010 to 2012 he served as the editor of Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts.
His fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Ecotone, Cincinnati Review, Memorious, Antioch Review, and others. His stories have been selected for inclusion in the 2012 and 2013 editions of the New Stories of the Midwest anthology series and shortlisted for Best American Short Stories.
His nonfiction writing has appeared on Salon and The Good Men Project, and he contributes monthly posts on a variety of literary subjects to the blog at Ploughshares.
Born in Chicago, and raised there and in northern California, he currently lives in Louisville with his wife, writer Sarah Anne Strickley, and their two daughters. He teaches creative writing at the University of Louisville.
He can be contacted at istansel [at] gmail [dot] com.
Ian holds an MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Houston, where from 2010 to 2012 he served as the editor of Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts.
His fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Ecotone, Cincinnati Review, Memorious, Antioch Review, and others. His stories have been selected for inclusion in the 2012 and 2013 editions of the New Stories of the Midwest anthology series and shortlisted for Best American Short Stories.
His nonfiction writing has appeared on Salon and The Good Men Project, and he contributes monthly posts on a variety of literary subjects to the blog at Ploughshares.
Born in Chicago, and raised there and in northern California, he currently lives in Louisville with his wife, writer Sarah Anne Strickley, and their two daughters. He teaches creative writing at the University of Louisville.
He can be contacted at istansel [at] gmail [dot] com.
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