The Lawless West

by Zane Grey, Max Brand, Louis L'Amour

Book Overview

In the field of Western fiction, three authors stand unmatched: L'Amour, Grey and Brand. Now three of their best short novels are collected in a single volume. Zane Grey's From Missouri has been... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843957875
• ISBN13: 9780843957877
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The Lawless West Was Lawless

This book I bought because it had a Zane Grey story inside--From Missouri--and is the third installment of a series of books edited by Jon Tuska which contain stories or short novels by Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and Max Brand. Mr. Tuska and the Golden West Literary Agency has done a fine job in trying to keep Zane Grey relevant to today by having his work published as he actually wrote it, instead of the expurgated versions editors have foisted on the public down through the years. Max Brand is what he is; he has written some excellent books and stories, and some I wouldn't give two cents to own. His west was purely imaginary even though he had "voluminous notes and research materials on virtually every aspect of the frontier" Jon Tuska in writing about Max Brand in this book. Louis L'Amour's contribution to this set is Riders of the Dawn a short novel he reworked and Bantam published as Silver Canyon. Despite having said what I have so far, this book is worth buying if you are a fan of any one of the three writers as it gives you some of their early work, or different work, one does not usually find. I bought it because of Zane Grey as I said; I'll buy anything he is associated with regardless if I already have it or not just to have another edition. As to story value and worth, these three stories are good reading. Buy it.

Max Brand's Over The Northern Border

Max Brand's "Over the Northern Border" is a short story of 80 pages or so, and I enjoyed it very much. The main character takes the rap for a crime he didn't commit in order to protect his brother-in-law. In so doing, he becomes a fugitive, and the story expands nicely from there. As for the reviewer from Arkansas, with all due respect, we are reviewing a book, not reviewing the author's skill on a horse or with a gun.

Novellas by Three Western Top Guns!

LAWLESS WEST is the third and final collection of short novels written by Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and Max Brand to be published by Leisure Books. (The other volumes were UNTAMED WEST and GOLDEN WEST). Considering how important Grey, Brand and L'Amour were to the genre, Leisure's trilogy is an excellent way to rediscover each author in turn. First off, I have to admit it's been 40 years plus or minus since I've read works by Grey or Brand. And I never was a L'Amour fan; quantity not equaling quality in my book. In any case, Grey's "From Missouri" leads off the trio of stories, being a short novel about a Missouri schoolmarm who is lured out west under somewhat false pretenses. She eventually finds true love in this quaintly charming piece. Max Brand's "Over the Northern Border" is the best story in the book. It's a wonderful tale of Jack Trainor, a fugitive from justice who winds up in the Canadian Rockies. Lost in the wilderness, he is saved by a simple-minded trapper. Over the course of some months, he repays the trapper by embroidering the letters the trapper sends to his fiance. When Trainor meets the lady in question he too is smitten but nevertheless helps the trapper find happiness. Brand's tale is a marvelous story populated by believable, likable human beings who value honor and friendship. To be honest, Louis L'Amour's "Riders of the Dawn," the longest novel in the book, is a bit much to take. Matt Sabre, the story's hero, is a cocky gunfighter who wanders into a town and, in short order, sees a woman, decides he's going to marry her - and tells her to her face! - and then gets himself involved in a range war. The subsequent events that play out are interesting enough but the Sabre character is way too much in love with himself for my tastes. In short, LAWLESS WEST is a mixed bag. The Zane Grey and Max Brand stories make it a worthwhile purchase though.

A Ridiculous Comment

What a ridiculous opinion expressed by the gentleman from Arkansas. Max Brand was an American who graduated from Berkley and worked on ranches in the summers. In short, he knew the West. I believe he is confusing Max Brand with Karl May.