Hang 'Em High

Law and Disorder in Western Films and Literature

Add to my list

by Bob Herzberg

Type

Studies

Subject

Genre > Western

Keywords

western, sociology

Publishing date

2013

Publisher

McFarland & Co

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 264 pages
7 x 10 inches (18 x 25.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-7864-6838-6

User Ratings

(0 vote)

X

Average rating:

0	rating	= We can do without
0	rating	= Good book
0	rating	= Excellent book
0	rating	= Unique / a reference

Your rating: -

Book Presentation:
For more than a century the Western film has proven to be an enduring genre. At the dawn of the 20th century, in the same years that The Great Train Robbery begat a film genre, Owen Wister wrote The Virginian, which began a new literary genre. From the beginning, both literature and film would usually perpetuate the myth of the Old West as a place where justice always triumphed and all concerned (except the villains) pursued the Law. The facts, however, reflect abuses of due process: lynch mobs and hired gunslingers rather than lawmen regularly pursued lawbreakers; vengeance rather than justice was often employed; and even in courts of law justice didn’t always prevail. Some films and novels bucked this trend, however. This book discusses the many Western films as well as the novels they are based on, that illustrate distortions of the law in the Old West and the many ways, most of them marked by vengeance, in which its characters pursued justice.

About the Author:
Writer, actor and comedian Bob Herzberg is the author of scholarly books and Western novels. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Press Reviews:
• "Highly recommend[ed]"—True West

• "The author has a witty style, somewhat reminiscent of Mystery Science Theater, so his commentary is enjoyable…the book is fun to read"—The Journal for the Wild West History Association

See the publisher website: McFarland & Co