Riders of the Purple Sage

We read this book because it was chosen by our book club. It is pure fun to read a novel with so many of the traditional western tropes, knowing this was one of the authors who established those tropes. So much is there, including the brave quiet gunfighter, awkward around women, who saves the damsel in distress from the evil villains. Many have complained that this book paints the local elders of the Mormon religion at the time in a poor light, and that complaint is valid. In fact, it put off my wife so much that it took her a long time before she enjoyed the book. The descriptions of the land and scenery are magnificent, as are the descriptions of the horses and dogs, and the way Zane Grey makes them characters in the novel. The narration took me a while to get used to, but, eventually, I warmed to the narrator's voice. I've never read Zane Grey before this, but I'm ready for another.