As my last genre book for the Book Lust class I had to read a western. I picked a random Zane Grey novel off of the library shelves and read it last night. I wasn't surprised by the way Grey spent a lot of time describing the Arizona landscape (trees, canyons, etc) but was surprised that the novel was a romance. Jean is summoned home to help his father. He falls in love with the daughter of his father's arch-enemy. Gun fights happen. Lots of people die. Since it's a romance, the novel departs from the plot of Romeo & Juliet and the young lovers ride off together at the end. Yes, I did just give away the plot, but this isn't one to read so much for plot as for scenary.
posted by kristin at 2:54 PM