I cried, I laughed out loud and I experienced the pain of losing a friend. This book is as honest a portrayal of the old cowboy life as I've ever read. Not everyone will understand Monte, or his way of life, however anyone who has spent their life around live stock will recognize him/herself in Monte Walsh. So if you are inclined toward the "Big Country", horses and integrity, read this book, I guarantee you will love it!

Years ago a good friend of ours gave us a copy of this book, since then it has been reread by the both of us so much that it is falling apart. Just ordered a new copy! This is a vivid tale of cowboy life written in short story form as though the writter was keeping a journal of events from this cowboys life. He has the ability to let you feel the action unfold as he writes, putting you right in the middle of stampedes, death, train wrecks, bar room fights, lost loves, and general cowboy onreyness. Please don't judge the book by the movie, it was a waste of film and Lee Marvin, having little to do with the book or the cowboy way of life and code of honor. This is a keeper you can enjoy over and over.

Monte Walsh is a classic Western, maybe the best ever written, and deserves to be read even by those who are not normally taken by the genre. It is a beautifully crafted period piece, describing the West and its cowboys during a time when it was in transition to modernity. But at its heart, it really is about those simple yet enduring themes: friendship, honor and duty. From Shaefer's elegant descriptions of the land, to his careful, humorous, and at times poignant portrayals of his characters, the book is a beautifully crafted masterpiece. Each chapter can stand on its own (as, in fact, they originally did) as a beautiful short story (I read Christmas Eve at the Slash Y on every Christmas Eve to get me in the spirit of the season) but taken as part of a whole they have greater power. I read Lonesome Dove 20 years after I first read Monte Walsh, and I was struck by many similarities between the books. I can't help but wonder if McMurtry had previously read Monte Walsh at some point in his life, and like many who have read it, been greatly influenced by it. Monte Walsh's epitaph read "a good man with a horse". I don't know what is Jack Schaefer's , but by writing a classic like Monte Walsh I think Jackie Robinson's epitaph would not be inappropriate, "a life is important only in the way it effects other lives". The code that Jack Shaefer wrote for living a good, honest life is a timeless gift to all who are lucky enough to read this book.

This is a unique coming-of-age story, set in the Badlands well before the arrival of white settlers. Little Bear is a native American adolescent. He has won admiration for courage and skill in hunting, but his distaste for war against other tribes has made him somewhat of a misfit. As a rite of passage into adulthood, he must spend about two weeks alone in the wilds, eating only what he can kill or find. During this retreat, he falls in the dark into a canyon. The "two weeks" could be much shorter or longer, depending on whether he can survive or ever get out. I confess I am not reviewing the audio cassette, but the book which I read in 1958, then 1980, then 1994. I was spellbound when I first read it, and years later the magic was still there. The word pictures are superb. Little Bear's encounters with bison and a mountain lion become very suspenseful. I really hope this book can become available to the public in a more affordable format. It is nothing like SHANE, Schaefer's most famous story, which I found enjoyable though somewhat trite. But I found CANYON to be not only Schaefer's best, but one of the best by any author. This nontraditional Western would be cherished by those who love nature and nonviolence.

Three reasons this Critical Edition is superior to the usual trade paperback edition. First, there are dozen of good essays written by book and film critics included within the pages. Second, this edition is true to the original, in the sense that it wasn't edited, and was printed in the original layout format. And finally, the artwork on the front book cover is supreme, it's a very good portrait of Shane; a rugged and mysterious man, not one of those cheesy cowboys as presented on the other editions.

As a child we used to gather at the home of a family friend each Christmas to hear this story read. It's a memory I cherish, so I just had to track down the original printed edition. The story has been published in Boy's Life twice and in Leader Lore so if you don't have any luck finding an original copy, you may be able to find in there.

The story itself is that of a hardened cowhand who discovers, at Christmas time, generosity and compassion he never knew he had, and the happiness it can bring. It's written in a unique, and, at times humourous style that older kids seem to love.
Highly recommended.

"I had to read it for school. and I hated it!" seems to be the common theme, here. As a middle school teacher, I can vouch for the observable fact that many many children 1. hate to read (sad) and 2. hate to read - even more - what they are told to read. Shane, while now somewhat dated, was a classic in it's time, and often imitated. One direct imitation is the Clint Eastwood movie, "Pale Rider", which serves as a wonderful comparison piece. As far as the young reviewers not being able to "understand" the novel "Shane", one can only ask if TV has destroyed their brain cells, or if they can't understand how Shane and Marion resisted their temptation to be with each other at the expense of friend and husband Joe Starret. In today's age, such restraint must surely seem confusing. A fine, easy- to- read book.

This remains my favorite book, and I've read thousands, literally, over the years, including some pretty sophisticated stuff (I have an M.A. in American History from Columbia). I saw the movie when it first came out. I was a New York City area kid then, and I fell in love with the Tetons where it was filmed. I then bought the book and loved it. I was captured very early by the scene involving Shane and Joe Starrett and Ledyard, the phony salesman. When Ledyard asks Starrett how he can take the word of a stranger, Shane, Starrett responds: "I can figure men for myself. I'll take his word on anything he wants to say any day of God's whole year." I still get chills re-reading those words; I still strive to live so others might say that of me. Can there be any higher praise? So... read it, and give it to your kids. If you have brought them up right, Shane will become one of their heroes and perhaps they will "grow strong and straight" as Shane wishes for young Joey Starrett in the book.

Considering that you'll reread this book countless times, it's a great investment which will amortize over the years. "Shane" is a great western, and beyond that, great literature, in the vein of "The Virginian". Schaefer has the truly great writers' gift of painting vivid pictures with simple writing. He tells this story through the eyes of a youth, living in the west during the time that open-range ranchers were contending with homesteaders for grazing land. The enigmatic Shane rides into the boy's life one afternoon and becomes part of the life of his frontier family. He shoots, rides, does anything with effortless perfection, yet he is not at peace with himself. When an ugly land war invades the community, Shane's presence in the valley helps level the playing field. As he becomes personally involved in the disturbances, even those whose interests he sustains are sharply divided over the desirability of his presence in the region. Is he their savior, or a villain with trouble on his coattails? This is a great story that belongs in every home library.