Writers, historians, and public intellectuals from James Welch and Mary Clearman Blew to Dan Flores, William W. Bevis and Daniel Kemmis explore A. B. Guthrie's life and legacy in Fifty Years after The Big Sky: New Perspectives on the Fiction and Films of A. B. Guthrie, Jr. Best known for his novels, The Big Sky and The Way West and as the author of the screenplay for the movie classic Shane, A. B. Guthrie is a much-loved but under-studied Montana author. There has been almost no serious study of Guthrie's work, until now. This wide-ranging anthology examines this beloved western author in multiple contexts. Essays examine Guthrie's relationship with the movie industry; how the Cold War influenced Guthrie's work; how people in his hometown of Choteau, Montana, and others close to him remember the man; and how the myths that lie at the core of Guthrie's fiction haunt today's Montanans.

This wide-ranging collection of essays addresses a diverse and expanded vision of Montana literature, offering new readings of both canonical and overlooked texts. Although a handful of Montana writers such as Richard Hugo, A. B. Guthrie Jr., D'Arcy McNickle, and James Welch have received considerable critical attention, sizable gaps remain in the analysis of the state's ever-growing and ever-evolving canon. The twelve essays in "All Our Stories Are Here" not only build on the exemplary, foundational work of other writers but also open further interpretative and critical conversations. Expanding on the critical paradigms of the past and bringing to bear some of the latest developments in literary and cultural studies, the contributors engage issues such as queer ambivalence in Montana writing, representations of the state in popular romances, and the importance of the University of Montana's creative writing program in fostering the state's literary corpus. The contributors also explore the work of writers who have not yet received their critical due, take new looks at old friends, and offer some of the first explorations of recent works by well-established artists. "All Our Stories Are Here" conveys a sense of continuity in the field of Western literary criticism, while at the same time challenging conventional approaches to regional literature.

Author of The Way West and the screenplay for the classic Shane, among many other timeless stories, icon of Western literature A. B. "Bud" Guthrie Jr. brought a blazing realism to the story of the West. That realism came out of the depth of Guthrie's historical research and an acuity that had seldom been seen in the work of Western novelists. The small Montana town that figures in several of Guthrie's books is clearly patterned after the town where he grew up, Choteau, on the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains. Biographer Benson illuminates Guthrie's upbringing and education, the influence of his intellectually inclined father, 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.--From publisher description.

The Blackwell Companion to American Regional Literature is the most comprehensive resource yet published for study of this popular field. The most inclusive survey yet published of American regional literature. Represents a wide variety of theoretical and historical approaches. Surveys the literature of specific regions from California to New England and from Alaska to Hawaii. Discusses authors and groups who have been important in defining regional American literature.

A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American West presents a series of essays that explore the historic and contemporary cultural expressions rooted in America's western states. Offers a comprehensive approach to the wide range of cultural expressions originating in the west Focuses on the intersections, complexities, and challenges found within and between the different historical and cultural groups that define the west's various distinctive regions Addresses traditionally familiar icons and ideas about the west (such as cowboys, wide-open spaces, and violence) and their intersections with urbanization and other regional complexities Features essays written by many of the leading scholars in western American cultural studies

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER A classic YA novel about a teenage girl searching for a sense of home and family that celebrates the true spirit of independence on the American frontier. For most of her life, sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks has been shuttled from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she summons the courage to leave Iowa and move all by herself to Vida, Montana, to prove up on her late uncle’s homestead claim. Under the big sky, Hattie braves hard weather, hard times, a cantankerous cow, and her own hopeless hand at the cookstove. Her quest to make a home is championed by new neighbors Perilee Mueller, her German husband, and their children. For the first time in her life, Hattie feels part of a family, finding the strength to stand up against Traft Martin’s schemes to buy her out and against increasing pressure to be a “loyal” American at a time when anything—or anyone—German is suspect. Despite daily trials, Hattie continues to work her uncle’s claim until an unforeseen tragedy causes her to search her soul for the real meaning of home. This young pioneer's story is lovingly stitched together from Kirby Larson’s own family history and the sights, sounds, and scents of homesteading life.

Originally published more than fifty years ago, THE BIG SKY is the first of A. B. Guthrie, Jr.'s, epic adventure novels of America's vast frontier. THE BIG SKY introduces Boone Caudill, Jim Deakins, and Dick Summers, three of the most memorable characters in Western American literature. Traveling the Missouri River from St. Louis to the Rockies, these frontiersmen live as trappers, traders, guides, and explorers. The story centers on Caudill, a young Kentuckian driven by a raging hunger for life and a longing for the blue sky and brown earth of big, wild places. Caught up in the freedom and savagery of the wilderness, Caudill becomes an untamed mountain man, whom only the beautiful daughter of a Blackfoot chief dares to love. With THE BIG SKY, Guthrie gives us an unforgettable portrait of a spacious land and a unique way of life.