Shane

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 the valley that summer, a slow, climbing tension that seemed to focus on Shane. Seen through the eyes of a young boy, Bob Starrett, SHANE is the classic story of a lone stranger. At first sight, the boy realises there is something unusual about the approaching man, but as Bob gets to know Shane, he realises that there is an inner sadness in him. SHANE is the story of a gunfighter who tries to hang up his gun but is drawn to the side of the boy's family and other homesteaders in their struggle to keep from being forced off their land.

Jack Schaefer was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Oberlin College in 1929 with a major in English. Schaefer's first success as a novelist came in 1949 with his memorable novel SHANE, set in Wyoming, which was made into a critically acclaimed movie and also a series. He continued writing successful westerns, selling his home in Connecticut and moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1955. In 1975 Schaefer received the Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement award.

Jack Schaefer is not a writer of conventional westerns ... [his work is] tautly and tightly constructed ... [with] additional ingredients that make for complex storytelling - New York Times If you read only one western in your life, this is the one The author has created a tale which captivates the reader's attention from beginning to end. His skill in depicting a character, a situation, or a mood, with a minimum of words, gives the story a tightly-woven quality often lacking in present-day novels. The book almost demands completion in one sitting - Library Journal Its tension is of the uncoiling spring variety. It's as clean as a hound's tooth - Saturday Review of Literature SHANE is a work of literature first and a western second - St George Daily Spectrum A real superiority here - Kirkus