It is set in 1950s Texas and examines the struggles of ranchers during a drought which lasts several years. The Wolf and the Buffalo examined the relationship between a black cowboy and a Native American.īut the best Elmer Kelton novel I have read so far is undoubtedly The Time It Never Rained.
The Day the Cowboys Quit was about a cattle drive in which all the paid hands went on strike for better wages. The best description I can give of Elmer Kelton is that his writing style is to western fiction what Kim Stanley Robinson is to science fiction: slow-paced, deliberate, very low emotional key, emphasis on the characters of the western people doing their best to survive amidst all the difficulties of life on the frontier. Estleman has won it three times, and a few authors, including Tony Hillerman have won it twice.
Kelton has won it 7 times, while other leading authors such as L’Amour, Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove), Leigh Brackett (Follow the Free Wind), Richard Matheson and Chad Oliver (The Wolf is My Brother) have only won it once each. The Spur Award is selected by the western writers themselves, the equivalent of sf’s Nebula Award. Kelton has won far more awards for his writing than any other western writer, including the much more popular L’Amour. When I am in the mood for some light reading, I may choose a Louis L’Amour novel, but not on a regular basis.īut there is one author of westerns who defies the above description, Elmer Kelton. They tend to be routine adventures with a minimum of characterization. I am not a particularly big fan of reading westerns.
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