Easterns and Westerns

by Swarthout, Glendon Fred; Swarthout, Miles Hood

• ISBN13: 9780870135729
• ISBN10: 0870135724
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Michigan State Univ Pr

Summary

In his only collection of short fiction, Glendon Swarthout, author of The Shootist, Where the Boys Are, and Bless the Beasts and the Children, reveals in microcosm the heroic and gritty themes that characterized both his novels and films. Stories such as "Mulligans" and "A Glass of Blessings" explore the seedy underbelly of human desire, while "A Horse for Mrs. Custer" quietly celebrates the dedication of men and women who act above and beyond their capabilities during war and upheaval. Although these stories were written over a span of three decades, their themes of generational conflict, hypocrisy, loss, sacrifice, love, and war remain fresh and startling. Alternately funny and uncomfortable, Swarthout captures the postwar tensions of twentieth-century Americans. This collection reveals the versatility, range, and skill of one of America's great storytellers. Easterns and Westerns includes one unpublished novella and thirteen stories, some of which have appeared in national magazines such as Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and the Saturday Evening Post. One of these, "A Glass of Blessings," was an O'Henry Prize Short Story in 1960. Another, "A Horse for Mrs. Custer," became a 1956 Western film for Columbia Pictures; 7th Cavalry, starring Randolph Scott and Barbara Hale. A third story, "Mulligans," has been made into a short comedy film.

Table of Contents

Autobiography	vii
Glendon Swarthout
Remarks on Receiving the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Western Writers of America	xvii
Easterns
A Glass Of Blessings	3	(8)
Four Older Men	11	(6)
Poteet Caught up in Lust and History	17	(10)
What Every Man Knows	27	(10)
Gersham and the Saber	37	(10)
O Captain, My Captain	47	(54)
Westerns
Pancho Villa's One-Man War	101	(10)
A Horse for Mrs. Custer	111	(18)
The Attack on the Mountain	129	(12)
Ixion	141	(14)
Going to See George	155	(10)
Death to Everybody over Thirty	165	(10)
The Ball Really Carries in the Cactus League because the Air Is Dry	175	(12)
Mulligans	187	(12)
Movin' on Out	199	(6)
Afterword
Miles Hood Swarthout	205