Braddock’s Gold
7 hours ago
Monday, November 26, 2007
Public Readers
I confess, I'm always interested when I see somebody reading in public, and I usually try to sneak a look at the book so I can see what they're reading. Most of the time it's something by Danielle Steel, James Patterson, etc., but today while I was walking in one of the local malls I spotted an older fellow (older than me, anyway) sitting on a bench reading a paperback called WAGON TRAIN WEST. I could see the title but not the author. It looked to be a pretty beat-up copy, but the yellow spine was distinctive enough I thought it was a Gold Medal. Sure enough, when I got home I had to look it up, and it was indeed a Gold Medal, from 1959, by a pretty good Western writer named William Heuman. I was going to post a cover scan but couldn't find one on-line. I have no idea why I find stuff like this fascinating, but I do.
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8 comments:
Because it restores our faith that there are still some smart western readers out there!
And it was a beat-up copy because the older fellow has already read everything by Louis L'Amour -- whose books the marketing boys have convinced the retailers and publishers are the only westerns of that era worthy of new, thirtysomethingth printings.
Some of the first Westerns I ever read, as a boy, were by William Heuman, and he helped turn me into me a Western fan. I think the very first Heuman novel I read was "Captain McRae," and I still remember how much I enjoyed it. In fact, I still remember where I bought the book, off an old fashioned wire rack. I have most of Heuman's paperbacks, including Wagon Train West. I need to get back to reading him someday.
This is something that drives me crazy (what someone is reading) and I will do gyrations to see what the title is. Funny how often the reader seems to want it hidden though. Just last week I saw someone reading Little Men. Two weeks earlier, Daddy Longlegs. Fabulous.
Always nice to see someone reading.
In this era when so few people read, I like to see anybody reading anything.
I've read a couple of Heuman's Western novels and several of his pulp stories and thought all of them were very good. I always pick up his books when I come across them.
The last Western I remember seeing someone reading in public before this one was THE OUTLAW by Max Brand. That was in an orthopedic surgeon's office, for whatever that's worth. Of course, I read in public quite a bit because I always take a book with me whenever I go most places, just in case I have to wait even a few minutes.
Here in the Northeast, I've never seen anyone reading a western, old or new, Louis L'Amour or not. Lots of the latest serial killer novels, though, or whatever Tom Clancy-ish type of book is in favor at the moment.
I'd like to see myself reading something. Man, I've read some pretty obscure stuff in public - translations of Midwood sleaze paperbacks while cycling in the gym, for example...
A Heuman western is a pretty good find. I've only read some pulp stories by him, but they were good.
You'd think Fort Worth would be a good area for Western readers, but I've never found that to be the case. People around here seem to be much more likely to be mystery and romance readers, with a smattering of folks who read fantasy of the Robert Jordan/Terry Goodkind type.
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