For me, there’s no better entertainment than a good western. I’ve watched "Lonesome Dove" countless times, and, more recently, "Open Range." For many aging, middle-class Americans, like me, westerns still give us a vicarious opportunity to be brave, to vanquish bad guys, and to ride heroically into the sunset.

Westerns are not just an important part of American history. They’re an important part of our personal history, yet we know very little about the real west. What we know is the version emblazoned on our hearts by Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Rowdy Yates, Woodrow F. Call, and all like them.

To balance our movie/TV version of the west, I recommend Richard W. Slatta’s "Cowboys of the Americas," a 306 page oversized book that we recently added to our inventory.

Published by Yale University Press, Slatta’s work is social history and the focus is on people—in this case cowboys—and how they lived their lives.

I compare this book’s structure to that of a Western film. It opens with quick vignettes that highlight the many cowboy types. Flashbacks reveal the distant, shadowy origins of the cowboy as a wild-cattle hunter. The cowboy hero rides onto the plains. Closeups reveal his appearance and something of his character and values. The camera then draws back for a sweeping wide-angle shot of the cowboy’s environment—the great, grassy plains stretching toward an infinite horizon. Like the cowboy himself, the plains have generated a melange of positive and negative images.

The cowboy remains at the center of the action. The dust, smoke, and sweat of his hard work and life on the range occupy the book’s central chapters. We ride with on roundups and trail drives; we see him in relation to his rancher/employer; and we eat a meal with him by a campfire. His pastimes on horseback and afoot take us to horse races, saloons, and houses of ill repute. No cowboy movie is complete without Indians; the chapter entitled "Cowboys and Indians" examines the harsh reality of frontier racial conflict and Indian wars.

Our "movie" concludes with scenes at twilight. A larger plot overtakes the protagonist. Rapid changes in the ranching industry deeply and permanently alter the cowboy’s work and way of life. A few villains make appearances and powerful political and socioeconomic forces go to work. A procession of farmers, immigrants, and new gadgets pushes across the plains, cutting off the cowboy from his accustomed way of life. Finally, the cowboy rides off into a brilliant western sunset. But his image and memory live on in myth and popular culture.

So if you want to learn more about the Chilean Huaso, the Argentine Gaucho, the Venezuelan Llanero, the Mexican Vaquero, and the Cowboy of the American West, I recommend "Cowboys of the Americas" as an excellent addition to home, school, and public libraries.

Thanks to all who supported and attended our recent used furniture sale. We still have several dozen items remaining. You’re welcome to examine them during our regular business hours, Monday - Friday from 9am - 5pm.

Our next Regional Readers meeting will be Tuesday, June 15th from 5:45 - 7:00 pm. We’ll be discussing "Creeker," Linda Scott DeRosier’s best-selling memoir of life in Johnson County, Kentucky.

We’re still looking for volunteers to help us enter used books on our website.