360 pages
35 photographs
Author of The Big Sky series, The Way West, and the screenplay for the classic film Shane, among other timeless stories of frontier mountain men, icon of Western literature A. B. “Bud” Guthrie Jr. brought blazing realism to the story of the West. That realism, which astounded and even shocked some readers, came out of the depth of Guthrie’s historical research and an acuity that had seldom been seen in the work of Western novelists. In Under the Big Sky Jackson J. Benson details the life and work of this true giant on the Western literary landscape.
Benson illuminates the critical details of Guthrie’s upbringing and education, the influence his intellectually inclined father had on him, his work as a newspaperman in Kentucky, and his time at Harvard University. Animated by the observations of friends, family, and fellow authors, this intimate account offers rare insight into the life and work of a remarkable writer and into the making of the literary West.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
1. “By George, I’m Free!”
2. A Smart Aleck and a Wise Guy
3. Alone in a Small and Self-Contained City
4. Marriage, Family, and Separation
5. The First Novel and Plans for the Big One
6. The Big Break--the Nieman Fellowship
7. The Big Sky Triumph and Tracking The Way West
8. To Hollywood and Shane and the Move to Montana
9. Bucking the Myth: These Thousand Hills
10. Down in the Dumps--Drink and Divorce
11. Living with Janie and Courting Carol
12. The Old Man and the Young Woman Wed
13. Arfive, and Speaking to the Young--Earth Day
14. The Twin Lakes Imbroglio and Building the “Barn”
15. “What Happened to Boone?”
16. Fair Land, Fair Land: The End of the Trail
Afterword: Fishing the Pishkun
Notes and Documentation
Index