Shane

By Jack Schaefer,

Book cover of Shane

Book description

'If you read only one western in your life, this is the one' Roland Smith, author of Peak

He rode into our valley in the summer of 1889, a slim man, dressed in black. 'Call me Shane,' he said. He never told us more. There was a deadly calm in…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Shane as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Yes, the movie is a classic, but when I feel I could use a refresher course in how a story can be fresh and original when seen through the eyes of a child, Shaefer’s original story of honor and bravery in menacing times is first on my mind.

After the Civil War, settlers moving west often found their lives endangered by the conflicting interests of the farmers and the cattlemen. Shane is a great depiction of a dangerous but honorable man caught between such interests.

Since I was a young boy without the influence of a loving father, I’ve always appreciated a “hero” in a story.

Someone I can look up to and perhaps want to emulate. Shane is the ultimate role model inside the category of “gunfighters.”

What he does not say or do defines him as well as what he does say and do.

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