So You Want To Read Zane Grey and Donft
Know Where to Start?
by Charles G. Pfeiffer Director,
Zane Grey's West Society
Friends
have often asked for advice in reading Zane Grey. I have been reluctant
to comply because I have doubted my own competency, and because
I am aware of the vast differences in individual tastes. Also, memories
connected with a first reading or with tracking down the locale
of a story inevitably color my judgment and blind me to the worth,
or lack of it, of a given story.
Geography has been my interest; but, as I studied the books for geographic clues I became involved with the stories and their themes and came to have favorites. Geography, story, and meaning - not literary merit - are the basis of my ratings.
I have tried to include materials which will make possible different
approaches to Grey's works. There is a map
to facilitate reading books geographically. The numbers of the alphabetized
lists of ZG's
Adult Romances of the American Frontier correspond to the numbers
on the map; the dates in brackets are the dates of writing and make
possible a chronological reading. The unenclosed date is that of
publication - if you choose to read the books in the order in which
they were published. When Grey died in 1939 (1872 - 1939), Harper
had such a backlog of books that it was about 20 years before they
were all published, so sometimes the two dates are far apart. To
make it easier to read Grey topically, various subjects have been
noted; the books in each group are arranged in the order of their
importance. All the sequels have been grouped together to make it
possible to read them in their proper order.
There are other matters that ought to be taken into consideration. Remember that these books were written between 1903 and 1939, and literary fashions have changed drastically. Remember, also, that Grey was concerned with more than spinning a good yarn. He was interested in geography, nature, and history; he visited the areas about which he wrote, took careful notes, and engaged in extensive research. Further, Grey believed that every worthwhile author was obligated to have a viable philosophy of life, which should be convincingly presented in his writings - read for these values as well as for the story. Finally, Grey specifically claimed to be writing historical romances - not historical novels. The novel fulfills its function when it is true to the facts of history; the romance strives to be true to the spirit of history. Do not judge Grey on his use of facts, but on how well he caught the spirit of the West.
Zane Grey was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1872, the great grandson of Colonel Ebenezer Zane, the founder of Wheeling, West Virginia. He was an indifferent student but avid reader, and outdoorsman, and a semi-profession baseball player. He attended the University of Pennsylvania on a baseball scholarship, earned a degree in dentistry, and later opened a dental office in New York.
In 1907 he met Buffalo Jones, who invited him to go to Arizona with him and help rope mountain lions to sell to zoos. Grey went and fell under the spell of the West.
On and off for the next twenty years, Grey hired the best guides available and camped throughout the West, compiling the descriptions and stories that became the trademarks of his writings. Few people of his day had as wide and detailed knowledge of the land west of the Missouri River as did Grey. He died in 1939.
Greyfs first book, Betty Zane, was published at his own expense in 1903. But beginning in 1908 and continuing for the next half century, with the exceptions of 1954 and 1962, he had one to four books published each year. From 1915 to 1924 there was a Zane Grey in the top ten every year but one; and at one time in the United States he ranked only behind the Bible and McGuffeyfs Readers in sales. Ann Ronald speculates that his total audience through magazine serials, books, and movies is well over 250 million. I have been told that nearly a million copies are still sold each year throughout the world. he has been translated into over twenty different languages, including Hebrew.
At latest count, over one hundred and thirty movies have been made of his books.
There has never been anyone like him in the history of the literature of the U.S.
If you would like to know more...
Farley, G. M. Zane Grey: A Documented Portrait
(A Portals Book, 1986, 128 pp.)
The Many Faces of Zane Grey
(Philip Rulon & William Close, Sr., editors, Silver Spruce Publishing Co, 1993, 221 pp.)
Gruber, Frank Zane Grey
(World Publishing Co., 1970, 284 pp.)
Kimball, Arthur G. Ace of Hearts: The Westerns of Zane Grey
(Texas Christian University Press, 1993, 278 pp.)
Pfeiffer, Charles G. Conestogas to Kanab (1991, 66 pp.) The Surprise Valleys of Zane Grey (1990, 16 pp.) Zane Greyfs Texas Novels: What? Where? How to Get There
(Revised 1993, 46 pp.)
Ronald, Ann Zane Grey
(Boise State University, 1975, 46 pp.)
Schneider, Norris F. Zane Grey
(Published by author, 1967, Zanesville, Ohio, 32 pp.)
Wheeler, Joseph L. Zane Greyfs Impact on American Life and Letters: A Study
in the Popular Novel
(George Peabody College for Teachers, 1975, 406 pp - an unpublished doctoral dissertation).
You may wish to join the Zane Grey's West Society. Full membership entitles you to the Society's publications and permits you to be a voting member of the Society. For details on how to become a member, please click here.
and Donft
Know Where to Start?
Friends
have often asked for advice in reading Zane Grey. I have been reluctant
to comply because I have doubted my own competency, and because
I am aware of the vast differences in individual tastes. Also, memories
connected with a first reading or with tracking down the locale
of a story inevitably color my judgment and blind me to the worth,
or lack of it, of a given story.
