Book Review 5: Riders of the Purple Sage

The best selling western of all time, this novel is considered the pinnacle of the genre and a literary classic. It was originally published in 1912 by Zane Grey, a man from Ohio who was fascinated by the American West. He explored the west and took many vacations there, and would write a fictional story in that setting.

During the time period, this book was actually controversial because of the way its characters (aka the bad guys) represent the Mormon faith. Despite the controversy though, it would become a great seller.

Westerns are a literary genre created by American writers. Unfortunately, many are considered (and many are) cheesy shoot em' up style books strictly for entertainment, and having no real literary value. Riders of the Purple Sage is the opposite of that, with in-depth characters, an engaging plot, and well written descriptions of the environment, religious zealotry, and what is now a historic time period.

If you want to read an American classic, Riders of the Purple Sage is the book for you.

Suggested Reading: The Last of the Mohicans- James Fenimore Cooper

Another classic of American Literature, this is a great book. It was written almost eighty years before Riders of the Purple Sage, and is a interesting tale about what was then the frontier, and the clashes that occurred between Native Americans and the Settlers. Its not really a "western" per say, because at this period in time there really was no such thing, but it is an exciting story about the frontier and the wilderness, and has many elements of the western genre.