Need a Book Recommendation(Western)

[Calis]

So, I just recently got the urge to get into some Westerns again. I've always been interested in the history of the Old West and enjoyed the film genre, but I've never really got into books, really my only experience is reading some of the Sackett books by Lamour when I was a kid.

I'm looking for a Western, but I'm actually more looking for a city/camp based one than a grand exploratory adventure through the West if you get me. I want gritty, drunks in saloons/whorehouses, gunfights, all that good stuff. Sort of a literary Tombstone-esque type of thing or Deadwood, which I think is along the same lines(haven't got a chance to watch it yet).

Anything out there like that?

I picked up this Gunman's Rhapsody book today by Robert Parker, and it's pretty much awfully written. The dialog is actually pretty laughable, but yet I continue reading it..which means I really need something else. :)

Lonesome Dove is the obvious Western I need to read at some point, but that's not so much what I'm in the mood for right now.

[Raiders Army]

If you wouldn't mind comic books or modern day stuff, try Preacher by Garth Ennis. Great, great stuff. It's about a preacher who is imbued with the "Word of God". He can make anyone do whatever he says. He travels with his ex-girlfriend Tulip and a vampire named Cassidy to find God. The Saint of Killers is pursuing him to kill him. He finds out God left Heaven and is wandering Earth. Some really graphic stuff, like when he tells a sheriff to go fuck himself and then the sherrif severs his penis and shoves it up his ass.

[Buccaneer]

Lonesome Dove would be my #1 recommendation but other than that, I would recommend the definitive biography on Wyatt Earp. I don't have a link or author because I seem to have misplaced the book in my library.

[Honolulu_Blue]

If you wouldn't mind comic books or modern day stuff, try Preacher by Garth Ennis. Great, great stuff. It's about a preacher who is imbued with the "Word of God". He can make anyone do whatever he says. He travels with his ex-girlfriend Tulip and a vampire named Cassidy to find God. The Saint of Killers is pursuing him to kill him. He finds out God left Heaven and is wandering Earth. Some really graphic stuff, like when he tells a sheriff to go fuck himself and then the sherrif severs his penis and shoves it up his ass.
Amen to that! A great series, though "some really graphic stuff" is a bit of an understatement. It's wildly graphic, no punches pulled at all and Ennis seems to love weird shit.

[PilotMan]

I gotta echo Bucc here and say that Lonesome Dove is my #1 recommendation. Don't let the size of it fool you, it moves well, and is well written.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I dont know if it counts as a western but The Dark Tower books are a western based fantasy.

[sachmo71]

I would recommend Roughing It by Mark Twain. Not at all what you are looking for, but sometimes it's the journey that counts. :)

[sachmo71]

In the meantime, check out this game (http://www.wizkidsgames.com/hsd/article.asp?cid=40115) by WhizKids.

[AgustusM]

Hands down Lonesome Dove is the best book in the Genre IMO - the mini-series was great, especially the acting (Duvall is unbeatable) but the book is even better.

not reading Lonesome Dove when you are looking for a western is like not watching Top Gun when you are looking for a movie about US fighter pilots.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Another vote for Lonesome Dove. I'm not big on westerns, but Lonesome Dove is simply a great read.

[JeeberD]

I dont know if it counts as a western but The Dark Tower books are a western based fantasy.

I thought of that at first but he says that he doesn't want "a grand exploratory adventure" and that's precisely what the Dark Tower series is...

[sachmo71]

Hands down Lonesome Dove is the best book in the Genre IMO - the mini-series was great, especially the acting (Duvall is unbeatable) but the book is even better.

not reading Lonesome Dove when you are looking for a western is like not watching Top Gun when you are looking for a movie about US fighter pilots.


so it's high on fluff, low on realisim?

[Calis]

Thanks for the info guys.

I actually own all the Preacher comics in trade paperback, as I picked up a big comic addiction when I was down at Keesler in Biloxi. The dangers of being in tech school and having a comic book store right off base. :)

The Dark Tower books I've been meaning to read, and I picked up the first one a while back, but searching around yesterday I couldn't find it.

I'll be grabbing Lonesome Dove either today or tomorrow, glad to hear it recommended the most, as I can check it out from the local library and save a little cash.

One I was reading about that interested me as well was Blood Meridian (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679728759/qid=1127317380/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4824571-8950508?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Cormac McCarthy, looks pretty interesting and definitely gritty. Anyone read this? Something I might look into getting after Lonesome Dove.

[sachmo71]

Thanks for the info guys.

I actually own all the Preacher comics in trade paperback, as I picked up a big comic addiction when I was down at Keesler in Biloxi. The dangers of being in tech school and having a comic book store right off base. :)

The Dark Tower books I've been meaning to read, and I picked up the first one a while back, but searching around yesterday I couldn't find it.

I'll be grabbing Lonesome Dove either today or tomorrow, glad to hear it recommended the most, as I can check it out from the local library and save a little cash.

One I was reading about that interested me as well was Blood Meridian (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679728759/qid=1127317380/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4824571-8950508?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Cormac McCarthy, looks pretty interesting and definitely gritty. Anyone read this? Something I might look into getting after Lonesome Dove.

I was supposed to read Blood Meridian for a lit class, but never did. However, it was recommended...if that helps. :)