The West is an Idea, Not a Place
Carlton Jackson is one of the foremost scholars to ever study Zane Grey as both a man and a novelist, and without a doubt when he first published this book in 1973 it began an avalanche of other writers to begin to look at Zane Grey afresh and anew. Again, we have a comprehensive study into what made Zane Grey who he was and why he wrote the novels he did, and it makes for makes for fascinating reading. And I agree with him that the unexpurgated novels which have been appearing in recent years will only add to the mystic and the status of Zane Grey as the greatest writer of adventure set in the west. To quote Dr. Jackson from the book, "Zane Grey today is a refuge from the computer-television-traffic jam-supermarket world with which most Americans have to contend. Grey can take us back to a time about which we can easily be nostalgic. Most important, though, he can give us pleasure, and make us feel good about things." Amen to that.
