Why am I passionate about this?
It would be fair to say that the deconstruction has firmly taken hold of the Western genre in movies. But while an appreciation of Sergio Leone is omnipresent to the point of clichĂ© for cinema buffs, in literature, Louis LâAmor, Zane Grey, and William W. Johnstone reign supreme. Cormac McCarthyâs apocalyptic Western horrors being the exception that makes the rule.
But Western books have their own subversion, and I wanted to spotlight those. The menâs adventure, the pulp fiction, the outright smut. These are the books that inspired my own novel, A Man Called Bone, and I hope it does right by its muses.
Jack's book list on the Wild West from London and Playboy
Why did Jack love this book?
Before settling into the chronicle of the title character, this first entry in the Undertaker series (from the author of the much longer-running Edge books as well) follows a circuitous course involving an unfaithful wife and a vengeful husband. I wonât spoil the surprises along the way, but the Undertaker himself pushes the Western antihero to its limit. Heâs all but emotionless, very nearly a sociopath, but with a certain competence and honor that gives him an appeal. (Even though heâs further saddled by the lame catchphrase âBye-bye.â) I actually find his semi-autistic callousness more bearable than Steeleâs more willful nastiness, since it seems the Undertaker was simply born the way he is, rather than choosing it.
Youâll recognize certain plot points from these books remixed into my book, though I found the Undertakerâs continued lack of character development a bit grating from one book to the next. Thatâs theâŠ
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