Episode 36: The BXC Goes West (Part 1)

Jude and John grab a rifle, a pony, and go ridin' out into the bloody "evening redness in the west" in Episode 36 of the Book XChange podcast. The subject of "the American west in literature" is about as vast, wide open and intimidating as the very landscape itself, so we decided it may take not one, but TWO episodes to do it justice. In this first part, we tackle "Western novels" - which of course is a term that can encompass a wide variety of books and writers. We talk of course about the well known, somewhat hackneyed symbols, cliches and archetypes that can populate the genre - but also cover a number of books that seek to satirize, analyze and subvert these tropes. We cover authors both legendary and lesser known, male and female, and try to articulate what makes the American west such mythic, mysterious, and at times malicious terrain. In a second part (which we will save until a later date), we will look not at novels but at non-fiction books that examine the history, mythos and allure of the land stretching beyond the Mississippi River... yeehaw!!

MUSIC: John Williams, Young Wolf, Voidz Panda

BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE

What John is currently reading/plans to read next:

'Warlock,' Oakley Hall -

'How to Think: A Survival Guide for A World at Odds,' Alan Jacobs -

What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next:

'Red Storm Rising,' Tom Clancy -

TBD -

Books/Writers discussed in this episode:

'Blood Meridian,' 'The Border Trilogy,' 'No Country For Old Men,' Cormac McCarthy -

'The Virginian,' Owen Wister -

Various works of James Fennimore Cooper -

'The Ox-Bow Incident,' Walter Van Tilburg Clark -

'Giant,' Edna Ferber -

The 'Lonesome Dove' tetralogy of Larry McMurtry -

'Train Dreams,' Denis Johnson -

'To A God Unknown,' John Steinbeck -

'Death Comes for the Archbishop,' and other works by Willa Cather -

The Wyoming stories of Annie Proulx -

'News of the World,' Paulette Jiles -

'The Sisters Brothers,' Patrick deWitt -

The Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn mysteries of Tony Hillerman -

Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast:

For Episode 37, the Book XChange brothers will go to bat for lesser known and obscure books that we feel deserve to be read, discussed and shared. Any and all genres qualify - we're going to scour our shelves for some of the very best books we've read that are well under the radar for most folks. Here's hoping you'll find some undiscovered gems with us, next time...