■ Moonstone Books will be issuing an all new anthology of short stories featuring the famed master swordsman from the West, Zorro. The volume will include new material by authors Isabel Allende (who also reinvented the Zorro myth in a recent bestselling novel
), Max Allan Collins, Loren D. Estleman, Ed Gorman and Jeff Mariotte, among others. Tales of Zorro is tentatively scheduled for December 10 but you can preorder a limited edition hardcover from Moonstone here. ■ For those proclaiming the premature death of the film Western, here’s a slate of upcoming Hollywood releases. This UK’s Sunday Times article from a few weeks ago discusses them in detail.
First, there’s September Dawn (official website), starring Jon Voight (Return to Lonesome Dove
Next is 3:10 to Yuma (official website), directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line
The trailer has been posted all over the web so there is no point of reproducing it here. However, if you want to see it, I recommend you drop by my fellow Saddlebum Ben Boulden’s blog and likewise check out all the other good stuff there.
Here, you can listen to a nice NPR interview with Fonda where he discusses his role in the film and also his thoughts on Westerns.
Finally, there’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (official website), which was shot more than two years ago and is scheduled for limited release on September 21. The movie stars Brad Pitt as Jesse James and is based on a novel by Ron Hansen
For those who might not know, Russell Davis is the author of more than a dozen novels and the editor of the recent Western anthology Lost Trails
The article also mentions Seraphim Falls
■ The newest issue of Roundup Magazine from the Western Writers of America is out. The online edition includes an article by Patrick Dearen on his novel Perseverance
■ The latest issue of True West Magazine is on sale, featuring an interview with Holly George Warren, author of Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry
■ The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards are coming up on September 16 and two Westerns are leading the nominations: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee with 17 nods and Broken Trail
and the future subject of a Saddlebums interview - will be signing her latest Devon Gray novel, Lucinda's Summer Vacation, at Art In The Orchard, Lincoln Monument Visitor Center in Lincoln, New Mexico on September 9th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
5 comments:
I watched the film "Seraphim Falls" this past weekend, and while it wasn't great, it was entertaining and had a few moments of top-notch suspense; particularly the opening sequence. The climax was a little weak, but overall not bad.
I also have an interest in the film "September Dawn" for the simple reason that I was raised in Utah--still live here--and the Mountain Meadows Massacre has been controversial for as long as I can remember. In fact it was only whispered of by the main body of the Mormon Church until recently.
There is an excellent book by Juanita Brooks about it, and Will Bagley recently--in the past few years anyway--wrote a disturbing article for Wild West magazine, and he also has a book out on the subject that I haven't read. Interesting stuff.
Ben
Not about movies, but definitely under your header Scouting the Web. . . . Today Saddlebums gets a nice plug at Grumpy Old Bookman's blog, which is held in high regard in the publishing world.
GOB (Michael Allen)isn't a western fan, but he looks kindly on "non-lit'ry" fiction. For those just joining us, last week (Aug 15 and 16), he reviewed a new western novel alongside the reissue of an SF classic by Philip K. Dick.
Thanks, Chap. I hadn't seen it although I visit GOB's blog regularly. I've also read part of Michael Allen's book on writing (which, btw, is posted online) and I must say it contains some of the most sensible advice on the topic I've seen in quite a while. Considering the abundant supply of books on writing, most of which are authored by people who've never published anything else in their lives and which sound more like self-help propaganda, this is saying a lot. I hope to find time in the near future to also download some of Mr. Allen's fiction.
Long ago, when I first read Ron Hansen's Jesse James novel, I was dazzled by his use of words. He made them dance and march and do triple duty in ways I had never before seen, and I marveled at this. His use of the English language was unique. And yet... after I had finished the novel, some other realities haunted me. I scarcely remembered the characters or the story, mainly because there was minimal characterization and the plot was thin. Not one character lingered in my memory. I'm curious what the filmmakers did with this. You can't transfer puns and neologisms and metaphors to screen images, except perhaps to give the characters unusual and clever dialogue. I guess I'm saying that the film will have almost no connection to the novel, and will simply be the creation of those Hollywood people who borrowed Hansen's title. Who knows? Maybe it will be splendid.
Richard Wheeler
i like the blog and would like to get by email,karen at k527@msn.com
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