The Ox-Bow Incident (Modern Library Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Walter Van Tilburg Clark (Author), Wallace Stegner (Introduction)

Book Description

Release date: April 27, 2004

Set in 1885, The Ox-Bow Incident is a searing and realistic portrait of frontier life and mob violence in the American West. First published in 1940, it focuses on the lynching of three innocent men and the tragedy that ensues when law and order are abandoned. The result is an emotionally powerful, vivid, and unforgettable re-creation of the Western novel, which Clark transmuted into a universal story about good and evil, individual and community, justice and human nature. As Wallace Stegner writes, [Clark's] theme was civilization, and he recorded, indelibly, its first steps in a new country.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Set in 1885, The Ox-Bow Incident is a searing and realistic portrait of frontier life and mob violence in the American West. First published in 1940, it focuses on the lynching of three innocent men and the tragedy that ensues when law and order are abandoned. The result is an emotionally powerful, vivid, and unforgettable re-creation of the Western novel, which Clark transmuted into a universal story about good and evil, individual and community, justice and human nature. As Wallace Stegner writes, [Clark's] theme was civilization, and he recorded, indelibly, its first steps in a new country.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

About the Author

Wallace Stegner's many books include Crossing to Safety, Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs, and the Pulitzer Prize winning Angle of Repose.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library; Reissue edition (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812972589
• ISBN-13: 978-0812972580
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.7 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful western about results of mob justice. February 12, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I am an English teacher. I came across reviews of The Ox-Bow Incident while doing a search for a student. I have always regarded this as a book which should be required reading, both for its literary and social value; and when teaching 11th grade, I have used it as a class assignment. The first part of the book which some readers found slow is really quite necessary; it provides the background that shows the reader that these are quite ordinary people - people that one would meet everyday. It contrasts with the violence in which they later become involved. The lynching of three innocent men is really not the crux of the story but rather the pivotal incident which allows the author to lead the reader to see what happens when one abandons law and order and then, when there are tragic results, must come to terms with his own conscience. I would also recommend the film with Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn which is well acted and true to the novel. I have generally found that once students get into the novel, the book generates a good deal of thoughtful writing and discussion.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A study in mob psychology. June 14, 1999

By R. D. Allison ([e-mail])

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This classic novel by Clark is a superb study of mob rule; of how normal men can allow their inner anger and authoritarianism to control their judgment and honesty. The story is told in the first person by Art Croft, a trailhand who rides into the small Nevada town of Bridger's Wells in 1885 with his friend Gil Carter. The first chapter (there are only five chapters) has all of the structure of a typical western novel (bar, poker game, fight), yet when a young rider arrives to say that some cattle have been stolen and a man killed, the story about how men let anger goad their actions sets the novel apart from other westerns. It is a true classic. In 1977 the Western Writers of America named it one of the top twenty-five western novels of all time (it was ranked second after Wister's "The Virginian"). The book was also made into a classic film starring Henry Fonda. I recommend this book highly. I really don't understand the comments of the reviewer from Massachusetts (of Jan. 10, 1999). The tale is very realistic.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lynch Mob Justice Then and Now January 4, 2000

By Neil Flowers

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I teach a literature class that focuses on crime and punishment in America, especially capital punishment. Among the books and films on this course are Sister Helen Prejean's "Dead Man Walking," Walter Mosely's, "Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned," and "The Ox-Bow Incident."

Since "Ox-Bow" is the oldest of the works in terms of both writing and time period, I begin with it. This story of a mob hysteria that begins in righteousness and boredom and ends with the lynching of three innocent men never fails to stun and intrigue my students, most of whom could at first care less about "Westerns," whether they be novels or films. What gets them primarily is the relentless of the action. Everyone who reads the novel at some point wants to throw it down and shout, "For god's sake, these men are obviously innocent, let them go!" The laconic, collective insanity of the "posse" is so severe that the hangings push the novel's premise very hard, hard enough that the deaths of the men are almost unbelievable. Yet that is Clark's point. Mobs don't reason; one or two men can sway them. And from this dangerous combination, utterly unreasonable events can happen.

The faceless mob that goes along with its leaders is possibly instructive in the debate over capital punishment in America. Other than Japan, which still hangs a few criminals ritualistically each year, the United States is the last industrially-advanced country in the world to execute prisoners. The pro-capital punishment forces in the U.S. tend to be led by politicians and district attorneys with political agendas and egos not entirely unlike Tetley, the leader of the mob in "Ox-Bow." Of course, the faceless populace of America goes along with these leaders - although recent polls show that support for executions is declining here.

"Ox-Bow" was written sixty years ago and takes place 115 years ago (in 1885). Yet it is still an important American novel, driving as it does to the hearts of men and how mindless retributive justice can lead them to horrific acts of violence.