Lost in the new West : reading Williams, McCarthy, Proulx and McGuane / Mark Asquith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Asquith, Mark, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Western stories--History and criticism.

Western stories.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Bloomsbury Academic, [2022]

Summary:

Lost in the New West investigates a group of writers - John Williams, Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx and Thomas McGuane - who have sought to explore the tensions inherent to the Western, where the distinctions between old and new, myth and reality, authenticity and sentimentality are frequently blurred. Collectively these authors demonstrate a deep-seated attachment to the landscape, people and values of the West and offer a critical appraisal of the dialogue between the contemporary West and its legacy. Mark Asquith draws attention to the idealistic young men at the center of such works as Williams's Butcher's Crossing (1960), McCarthy's Blood Meridian (1985) and Border Trilogy, Proulx's Wyoming stories and McGuane's Deadrock novels. For each writer, these characters struggle to come to terms with the difference between the suspect mythology of the West that shapes their identity and the reality that surrounds them. They are, in short, lost in the new West.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction: 'Where's the All-American Cowboy At?'

1 Butcher's Crossing's Lost Vision: Williams's Cowboy Outsider

2 Lost between Borders: McCarthy's Vanishing Cowboys

3 Lost in the Hyperreal: Proulx's Broken Cowboys

4 Lost in the Shadow of the Crazies: McGuane's Dislocated Cowboys

Conclusion: Where's the All-American Cowboy Going?

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501349539

1501349538

9781501349546

1501349546

OCLC:

1240366487