THE BEST OF THE WEST. AN ANTHOLOGY OF CLASSIC WRITING FROM THE AMERICAN WEST.

[New York]: Harper/Collins, [1991]., 1991. First edition. First edition. With a beautiful color drawing of a mountain man and signed by Ernie Franklin on the front free fly leaf. As new in dust jacket. Few books have stranger histories behind them than this one. It all began from a book club's request for a truly representative "snippets" anthology of Western American literature. None had been done for years and a demand existed. Hillerman went to his good friend and bibliographic historian, Jack Rittenhouse, asking if he would co-edit such a tome. Jack agreed and began collecting pieces that would be geographically as well as genre representative of the entire West. Tony wanted Jack's name on the cover; but Jack, true to his nature and marketing sense, insisted that it be left off. This story is spelled out in Tony's introduction. Jack died before he saw the finished product. There are 15 subject-genre sections, some being: Frontier Life, Cowboys, Women, Tall Tales and Practical Jokes, Hispanos, Navajos, Travel, The Military, and Law and Disorder. This is an exceptional effort by two men of diverse talents to combine their talents to produce the finest book of the year on the American West. Tony Hillerman's background is New Mexico and the American West. Once sampled, this book is difficult to put down. Highly recommended. Housed in the original slipcase.