Full Description
In this collection of sixteen short stories, Robert Laxalt illuminates the Nevada of the 1950s. Written when Laxalt was in his twenties, the stories are as fresh as if they were penned yesterday. Humanity good and bad, humor and cruelty, satire and adventure are found in these early stories of a Nevada poised on the brink of change.In the lead story, Cowboy Clint Hamilton laments that the town is "getting more like a big city every day" as the traditional gambling joints of earlier times give way to the gaudy casinos that will soon become modern glitz.
Sobering experiences from his days as a reporter give Laxalt an insight into murderers and prison life and lethal gas chambers. In a chilling short story, "The Snake Pen," we find the seed of Robert Laxalt's celebrated novel, A Man In the Wheatfield.
Contents
Contents
Author's Note
A Lean Year
Old Button
Sixty Miles Is a Long Trip
The Gun
The Law Comes to Virginia City
The Herd Stalker
Valley of the Deer
Formerly, Any Quadruped
>Wine
The Graduation
Guest of Honor
Night Ride
Crossroaders
The Murderer
The Snake Pen
The First Snow
