western books/conventions/themes/styles?

[pob]

Anyone know of any good western books? I'm planning on making a small western myself and I'd like to read more about the style, and other conventions used in westerns. I have been and i could watch more films.....but i've hundreds more to watch and I dont want to do that for 10 years!

thanks

[Doc Bernard]

Louis L'amour was always a favorite of mine. And a prolific western writer.

[Justin Kuhn]

Doc beat me to it

[simonpwood]

Not a novel, but I found Christopher Frayling's 'Speghetti Westerns' to be an interesting (though academic) read. This was a critical exploration of European styled Westerns, focusing ultimately on the Italian genre (with Sergio Leone being the most important of those). What is interesting is how directors like Leone deconstructed the Hollywood Western myth and made it into something new (but in order to break a style and convention you need to first have a good understanding of it; and Leone was an avid Hollywood Western fan). Later Leon films actually went back to the source material ("Once upon a time in the west" was very Hollywood in style in some places), and later Hollywood began to adopt Spaghetti influences into their works (just look at 'The quick and the dead'). I seem to remember the author actually coined the term 'Spaghetti Western' - something the Italians were not happy with in the beginning.

Anyway this is an interesting take on the genre from the outside looking in. Its a relatively old text but still quite contemporary.

[pob]

I'll get myself on amazon and see what I can find on Louis L'amour. I am a big fan of sergio leone, plus i grew up watching westerns everyweek, lol. I think i'll check his book out too, (frayling) I mean.
I know how i want the characters to dress, but i'm struggling to find decent revolvers in the UK. I know its not going to be an 'orignal' western,

thanks
Andy