Legends of the Fall

Jim Harrison is one of my favorite writers and has been since I was a kid. He was one of the writers, including John Steinbeck, Jack London, Flannery O'Connor, and Harry Crews, who made me want to write in the first place. I don't like much of his current stuff, because it seems to be a parody of his earlier, better work, but because of this book and Farmer, the first book of his I ever read, I still mark him as a top favorite. He was one of the few writers I wrote a fan letter to. And got a letter back, which I've posted here before!

My well-worn copy, bought from the B. Dalton Bookseller's in Grand Forks, North Dakota, when I was maybe 15 years old. (1978 or '79) "Suddenly he was terribly lonely for the greenery, the cold lakes and the snow of his childhood." From one of the three novellas in the collection, "The Man Who Gave Up His Name."

As for the movie adapted from the title novella? It's so far from the novella itself, that you can't really even call it an adaptation. But then adapting Harrison's work must be like trying to adapt a poem. He's a very stripped-down, condensed writer. A lot of people like the movie, but whenever I've seen it on and tried to watch it, I couldn't get through more than one or two maudlin, overblown scenes. (I think it's also hard on a movie when the leading man is way more beautiful than any of the actresses in it…)

NEW .45-CALIBER EBOOK AVAILABLE NOW!

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A favorite western series of readers world-wide, the Cuno Massey .45-Caliber series continues with:

.45-CALIBER LEFT TO DIE

Cuno Massey is just passing through central New Mexico when he’s ambushed by town tamer, Lawton Briggs and three other men and one pretty but angry young woman, Stacey Ramos. Stacey is owner of the San Juan Valley Stage Line.

The group thinks Cuno Massey is working for the notorious stage robber, Jack Salmon, who killed Stacey’s father. None of the men and Stacey will take no for an answer.

Instead, intending to send Salmon and his gang a clear, brutal message, they strip young Massey naked, lay him out spread-eagle and tied to ground-sunk stakes, and leave him to die.

Cuno is rescue by the beautiful ranch woman, Olivia Taffly, and her son, Hob.

Now Cuno is back on the vengeance trail that takes more than a few bloody, twisting turns until it ends in a smoky hail of flesh-tearing lead!

Western novelist Peter Brandvold has penned over 90 fast-action westerns under his own name and his penname, Frank Leslie.  He is the author of the ever-popular .45-Caliber books featuring Cuno Massey as well as the Lou Prophet and Yakima Henry novels. The Ben Stillman books are a long-running series with previous volumes available as ebooks.  Recently, Brandvold published two horror westerns—Canyon of a Thousand Eyes and Dust of the Damned.  Head honcho at “Mean Pete Publishing,” publisher of lightning-fast western ebooks, he has lived all over the American west but currently lives in western Minnesota with his dog.  Visit his website at www.peterbrandvold.com.  Follow his blog at: www.peterbrandvold.blogspot.com.