The Mysterious West (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Tony Hillerman (Author) "ALL THE YEARS that I was growing up in a poor suburb of Los Angeles, my mother would tell me stories of the days I..." (more)
Key Phrases: coyote clan, dead coyotes, Mary Lou, David Campbell, Peyote Skies (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA?Prime-cut short stories from some of the best contemporary mystery writers, including Bill Pronzini, Marcia Muller, Wendy Hornsby, J.A. Jance, and Dana Stabenow. The Western settings range from the bleak, rugged land of the Dakotas to ice-locked Alaska; from the misty coast of California to the flat Texas landscape. Heroes and heroines include a runaway wife determined to seek justice for her father's death; a detective in search of two elusive young boys; and Midnight Louie, a cat who saves a young girl's life. This stunning collection, selected and introduced by Hillerman, offers readers some wonderful choices in fiction. Each story is strikingly different in tempo, plot, and setting, yet each is part of and contributes to the diversified world of the mysterious West.?Pam Spencer, Chapel Square Media Center, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Morris (American literature, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie) conducted 15 interviews between 1988 and 1992 of authors writing primarily of the American West. The interviewees are all "postmodernist" and "postregionalist" in their perspectives, sharing an ambiguous and ambivalent attitude toward place and the mythos that represents it. Some of these writers still look to the past but reinterpret it, such as Ron Hansen, Molly Gloss, and Ivan Doig; others, like William Kittredge, seek to demythologize it. Among the writers interviewed are several female voices (Gloss, Gretel Ehrlich, and Mary Clearman Blew), who offer a new vision of the roles played by women in shaping the American West. All of them yield valuable insights into what direction the new Western literary tradition seems to be headed. Novelist Hillerman's volume, in contrast, is far less weighty. It contains 20 short stories, primarily mystery and detective fiction, such as Marcia Muller's "Forbidden Things" and Karen Kijewski's "Tule Fog," interspersed with an occasional fantastical tale. The fictional landscapes here range from the desolation, silence, and danger of Death Valley, and the small, dying towns of southern Colorado to the sophisticated originality and zaniness of Berkekey, California. Across these pages march university protesters, ranch hands, and Yurok Indians. Together, they give life to a multifaceted landscape that is currently undergoing redefinition, as Morris's volume of interviews amply demonstrates. There is no overlap between the writers in these two works. For this reason, owning both works would give a novice reader of Western literature a useful variety. For public library collections.
Marie L. Lally, Alabama Sch. of Mathematics & Science, Mobile
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (September 22, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061092622
• ISBN-13: 978-0061092626
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,130 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting change of pace for Hillerman., November 9, 1997

By A Customer

I've been reading a lot of novels lately. 600-pagers. So when I found this collections of short stories, I gave it a try. I love the West; I love short stories; why not a change of pace. Hillerman has collected stories set in the West, not western stories. At first I bridled: Hillerman without Navajos? But once I got into the first story, I was hooked. This is the only collection I have ever read whose stories are ALL good, and there are a lot of stories in the book. I liked the characters, the locations, the stories, and the surprise that most of the stories were by women. I hadn't expected that. A favorite? That would be tough. How about three: "Nooses Give" by Dana Stabenow--ridding the Tundra of bootleggers; "A Woman's Place" by D. R. Meredith--Highwater, Texas never saw no lady judge before!; and "With Flowers in Her Hair" by M. D. Lake--you CAN go back, but it may not be very nice there. What did I hate about the book? Closing the back cover.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to many different authors, January 29, 1997

By A Customer

This is one of the better anthologies of mystery stories that I have read. The Western theme works well to tie it all together, though for some authors it is apparent only from the location of the story. I enjoyed the short submissions from authors whose full length works I have already read - including D.R. Meredith, J.A. Jance and Karen Kijewski. The most notable reason to get this collection is to be exposed to authors you may not normally choose. A couple I found here and had to investigate further were Dana Stabenow (writes about an Eskimo female investigator - excellent stories) and Linda Grant - who I have only read in other short story collections

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Each tale is like a piece of gormet canip, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

THE MYSTERIOUS WEST Edited by Tony Hillerman

This is an ecclectic collection of short stories in settings that rage the American West by a wonderful variety of writers. They are all new, never before published, stories.

Each story is a "mystery" of some sort. I found them all to be quite facinating, even if most are not about cats. One story is most decidedly about a cat, Midnight Louie.

Louie has his own series of novels. The short story in this anthology is a good example of Midnight Louie's other adventures.

If you or your purrrson like mysteries and stories of susspense, deceit and excitement, this is a great book to have. The stories are completey engrossing, easy to read and a treat! Take the book along when you have to wait for your next medical, dental or other appointment. Each tale is like a piece of gormet canip--a pleasure that almost doesn't last long enough.

A book for adult readers, but without sleaze, or the need for parental discression!

Twist, a prrroud member of CLAW, and the CLAW Bookstore Committee