New Releases by Jack Schaefer

Rediscover the golden age of the Western with this collection of four unforgettable novels of honor, adventure, and violence set against the magnificent landscapes of the American frontier The heroic exploits and violent struggles of the Old West come alive once more through this one-of-a-kind collection of four thrilling novels. Edited by Ron Hansen, this deluxe hardcover edition shows that the 1940s and 1950s was a golden age for the Western novel. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Ox-Bow Incident, Walter van Tilburg Clark explores the thin line between civilization and barbarism through the story of a lynch mob that targets three innocent men, exposing a dark authoritarian impulse at work the American frontier. Set in Wyoming in 1889, a time when ranchers and cattle companies waged war with each other, Jack Schaefer''s iconic Shane deploys many of the genre''s most essential elements, brilliantly filtered through a boy''s perceptions. Alan Le May''s The Searchers, the basis for John Ford''s cinematic masterpiece starring John Wayne, follows the dogged quest of two men to rescue a young girl taken prisoner by Comanche warriors. And Oakley Hall''s Warlock, a novel that anticipates the later books of Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry, casts the battle for control of a southwestern outpost as a bloody saga pitting a marauding gang of cowboys and rustlers against the town''s defenders, led by the legendary gunslinger Clay Blaisedell. All four novels were memorably adapted for the screen, and their gripping stories--told with brisk narrative energy, psychological depth, and laconic humor--have contributed unforgettably to the Western''s enduring legacy in American culture.

This work is the first complete translation of the Morning and Evening Altar Recitations, 玄門早晚壇功課經 (Xuanmen zaowan tan gongke jing) also known as "The Gongke". The Gongke is the collection of liturgical scriptures recited at the altar at every Quanzhen Daoist Temple. These recitations occur in the early morning and in the evening, and can be as simple as a sole chanter or as complicated as the entire body of resident monks and nuns. There can be a simple accompaniment of a wooden fish bell, or the ornate accompaniment of the Daoist orchestra. Whether simple or complex, at the heart of these performances is the text itself. The corpus of texts is a fascinating journey through Daoist doctrine and practice. Prayers of purification, hagiographies of special deities, prayers of commitment, cosmology, meditation, theory, and much more all converge in this collection. It can be said that this is a pocket sized or mini Daoist Canon. Josh and Jack set about translating this as a response to a deep need to connect to the tradition and the most common practices as experienced in daily life at the temples. As Daoism continues to take root in the West, it is becoming more mature in its presence. The relationship to lineages in China is becoming the new norm. As such, there is a need to align with those practices that describe traditional lineage Daoism. The Gongke, and its recitation, is one such defining text. By having access to the translation and the original Chinese and pinyin pronunciation (all provided in this book), the English speaking person can now engage and understand this practice and the textual depth and meaning within.

Stubby Pringle, nearly twenty, is on his way to a Christmas dance when he meets a family in need and finds a different way to celebrate Christmas Eve.

The classic Western short stories in this Jack Schaefer collection explore the changing and often challenging truths found throughout the American West. The featured novella, “The Kean Land,” tells the story of young Ben Hammon as he arrives in western Colorado after the death of his parents to live with his small-town lawman uncle. The drama unfolds as Ben learns the ways of the land and the people who live there—including the Kean family. As “progress” pursues there is a dramatic price the Keans and others must pay to keep their land in this once hostile territory. How much blood must those who love the land pay in order to stay?

“Old Jake Hanlon sits on the edge of the mesa and looks out over miles of southwestern plain,” starts Jack Schaefer’s all-ages novel Mavericks. Old Jake Hanlon is “ancient and craglike, weathered and withered . . . something like a worn rocky butte himself.” Living in his memories, Hanlon prefers to reflect on his youth, when he lived every cowboy’s dream, rather than think about the old man he has become, now labeled “a decrepit old nuisance” by the folks in town. Ultimately, it is Old Jake’s recollection of the tales of his past—stories of endurance, strength, compassion, and cunning—that helps prepare him for death.

This classic novel of courage and redemption introduces Jared Heath. Heath, a captain in the Union army, is stripped of rank and court-martialed for cowardice after refusing to march his men into a suicide mission. Yet he has a chance to regain his honor when he is charged with leading Company Q, a unit of misfit officers also disgraced and charged with cowardice. If Heath can make them an effective fighting force, there is a possibility that all of them will be redeemed and pardoned. Will this unit of outcasts prevail and succeed when given the opportunity to show their courage, or will they find defeat deep in Comanche country?

Readers searching for courage and adventure will find just that and more in the engaging prose of Jack Schaefer in this vintage collection of Western vignettes. Exploring varied tales of life in the West, Schaefer shares the stories of exceptional characters conflicted with humanity as they navigate the challenges and opportunities that can only be found on the frontier. From the humor in "Cat Nipped" to the common concerns found in "Prudence by Name," Jack Schaefer again places himself as the authentic voice of the West. Other stories in the collection include "Something Lost," "Leander Frailey," "That Mark Horse," "My Town," "Harvey Kendall," "Out of the Past," "Old Anse," "Takes a Real Man," and "Hugo Kertchak, Builder." Published throughout the early 1950s, these stories have captured our hearts and imaginations as true classics in Western fiction and will continue to do so time and time again.

Schaefer shares the individual stories of seven people—rancher, sheepherder, homesteader, town settler, soldier, miner, and cowboy—in this collection. He tells the tales as they can only be told: in the open spaces of the Old West. In these memorable narratives Schaefer depicts the unique conflicts of settler life and captures the spirit of the resolute, willful, determined, and broken characters found on the Western frontier.

First Blood, Schaefer's follow-up to Shane, tells the tale of Jess Harker, a young stagecoach driver finding his way in this coming-of-age story.

Awarded a 1961 Newbery Honor, Old Ramon tells the timeless coming-of-age story of a young boy who spends a summer with an old shepherd in the Mojave Desert. He leaves his textbooks behind for real life lessons with Ramon as his mentor. He learns not only how to care for the sheep but how to overcome fear, how to face death and responsibility, and the difference between being alone and being lonely. Written in Schaefer’s charming and engaging style, the novel details a boy’s discovery of both the value of friendship and the hardship of life.

Based on a Cheyenne legend, this novel holds universal appeal as it explores the theme of a man’s conflict with his culture. It is the story of how Little Bear, a Cheyenne warrior who opposes war, reconciles the conflict between his personal values and the demands of his tribe. The dilemma faced by Little Bear gives rise to a story that is at once a compelling adventure tale, an authentic description of Indian life and ritual, and a parable of self-realization. First published in 1953, The Canyon remained one of Schaefer's personal favorites. This new release will be welcomed by Schaefer’s enduring admirers and by new Western literature enthusiasts. It is a classic not to be missed.

Schaefer profiles pioneers of the West--the doctors, explorers, and cowboys who settled the challenging landscape and built communities in the Old West.

Monte Walsh has never met a horse he couldn’t ride, and Chet Rollins has never met one he couldn’t rope. For a decade they are unbeatable and inseparable, working as trail hands throughout the West until finally settling with Cal Brennan’s Slash Y. Their rough cowboy ethics see them through every imaginable challenge: blizzards, rustlers, outlaws, and card games gone wrong. Partial to pretty women, gambling, and practical jokes, Monte is often on the receiving end of trouble, while Chet is always there to break him out of jail or serve as a decoy until Monte can get out of town in a hurry. As the West begins to change, however—the automobile replacing the horse, the herds breaking up—the two friends part ways. Chet marries and goes on to become a successful merchant, banker, and politician; but Monte, unable to imagine anything but the cowboy’s way of life, refuses to the end to leave the range.

Classic stories of the old West, this collection includes Shane, Cooter James, The Coup of Long Lance, That Mark Horse, Jacob, and Harvey Kendall.

Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.)--Fiction/SHANE, THE MOVIE WAS ADAPTED FROM ONE OF THESE SHORT STORIES IN THIS BOOK.