Most men would end their days in bed or take their own lives, but a gunfighter has a third option, one that Books decides to exercise. He may choose his own executioner.As word spreads that the famous assassin has incurable cancer, an assortment of human vultures gathers to feast on the corpse—among them a gambler, a rustler, a clergyman, an undertaker, an old love, a reporter, even an admiring teenager. What follows is the last courageous act in Books’s own legend.This classic, Spur Award–winning novel was chosen by the Western Writers of America as one of the best western novels ever written and was the inspiration for John Wayne’s last great starring role in the acclaimed 1976 film adaptation. The Bison Books edition includes a new introduction by the author’s son, Miles Swarthout, in which he discusses his father’s work and the making of the legendary film.

    And no story about a young writer struggling to launch his career ever matched its subject matter better than the tale behind Leonard's Western oeuvre.In 1950, fresh out of college -- having written two "pointless" stories, as he describes them -- Leonard decided he needed to pick a market, a big one, which would give him a better chance to be published while he learned to write. In choosing between crime and Westerns, the latter had an irresistible pull -- Leonard loved movies set in the West. As he researched deeper into settings, Arizona in the 1880s captured his imagination: the Spanish influence, the standoffs and shootouts between Apache Indians and the U.S. cavalry ...His first dozen stories sold for 2 cents a word, for $100 each. The rest is history.This first-ever complete collection of Leonard's thirty Western tales will thrill lovers of the genre, his die-hard fans, and everyone in between -- and makes a terrific study of the launch of a phenomenal career.From his very first story ever published -- "The Trail of the Apache" -- through five decades of classic Western tales, The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard demonstrates again and again the superb talent for language and gripping narrative that has made Leonard one of the most acclaimed and influential writers of our time.

    From his round-toed shoes to his derby hat, he was a man of culture, a creature of comfort, who liked his gourmet restaurants and expensive cigars. The short, stocky New Yorker made a fortune writing dime novels about the old west. Now he was out west to do some research for his next novel, little suspecting that he would be joining sheriff Zeb Cather in a manhunt for the ruthless Raton Brothers, learning firsthand about frontier justice and frontier heroism.

    Here, where the elusive, phantomlike Apache bands roamed, life was as harsh, cruel, and pitiless as the country itself. The conquest of Apacheria is an epic of heroism, mixed with chicanery, misunderstanding, and tragedy, on both sides.The author’s account of this important segment of Western American history includes the Walapais War, an eyewitness report on the death of the gallant lieutenant Howard B. Cushing, the famous Camp Grant Massacre, General Crook’s offensive in Apacheria and his difficulties with General Miles, and the formidable Apache leaders, including Cochise, Delshay, Big Rump, Chunz, Chan-deisi, Victorio, and Geronimo.

    Included Here Are Some of The Best-Known Poets, Such As Waddie Mitchell, Wally McRae and More, Who Breathe Reality Into The Myth of The Ranching Life. Cowboy Poetry Is A Cultural Phenomenon That Continues To Spread Like Wildfire Across The Country. BR>