Things You'll Need:
- Book Bags
- Reading Glasses
- Books On Tape
- Books On Tape
- Bookcases
- Bookends
- Miniature Reading Lights
- Reading Chairs
- Reading Lamps
- Internet Access
- Macintosh Computers
- Computers
- Laptop Computer
- Internet Explorer
- Western Videos
- Internet Explorer
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Step 1
Begin with the dawn of the frontier, perhaps even James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans."
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Step 2
Read about the first wild souls to seek adventure across the Mississippi in A.B. Guthrie's "The Big Sky."
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Step 3
Study the mountain men and fur traders as history with "Across the Wide Missouri" by Bernard De Voto.
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Step 4
Move on to the first of classic Westerns with Owen Wister's "The Virginian."
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Step 5
Look into the reality novels like Walter Van Tilburg Clark's "The Ox Bow Incident."
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Step 6
Find life in the West as truth and fiction. Read "Life of Tom Horn, Government Scout and Interpreter," the autobiography of the famous scout and foster son of Geronimo, and "I, Tom Horn" by Will Henry.
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Step 7
Remember classic authors of the genre: Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and Max Brand.
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Step 8
Turn to Texas literature and its masters. Read anything by J. Frank Dobie, Edna Ferber's "Giant," Edwin Shrake's "Blessed McGill," Ben K. Green's "Horse Tradin'," or James B. Gillette's "Six Years with the Texas Rangers."
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Step 9
Seek out the essence of Western history in the works of Mari Sandoz and Dee Brown.
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Step 10
Find any book by Elmer Kelton, who pens masterpieces within the genre. "The Day the Cowboys Quit" is a good place to begin your journey.
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Step 11
Look into the works of two modern masters traveling to the Wild West - Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" and Thomas Berger's "Little Big Man" take the genre to the level of true literature.
