I've never read him, not sure why. I've learned how enjoyable westerns are from reading the Lonesome Dove series by Larry McMurtry. Now I'm hearing that I should start with some Louis L'Amour, any suggestions which one to start with? I know there are a LOT of them, but I'd like one that's really going to grab me, tell me which book that is!

Thanks, and happy reading in 2011!

Start with the Sackett stories. I enjoyed those a lot.  I like Louis better than Zane Grey because Louis reveres "the woman" unlike Zane, who sometimes does bad things to women in his stories.      There isn't a bad Louis L'Amour, although he did write a few non-westerns, that I didn't get into..   Also, The Last Of The Breed isn't a western but it is a great story of survival against huge odds.   I own a lot of his books, most what PBS would consider unpostable since they are old, and the rest I'm not parting with!.   Do you have any at all?  And, I find the audio cds of Louis L'Amour to be wonderful in the car. I collect his stories on CD as well.  They are dramatizations...great!  They don't pop up often but I have them all on my wish list!    Let's continue to talk about Louis L'Mour... Terry

Hi, I jus t posted  "Lonely on the Mountain" a Sackett's novel (ISBN 0553208764) , and "The Mustang Man" also a Sacketts novel, (ISBN 0553208640) which I'll do 2/1 on.   Terry

My faves are Dark Canyon,  The Tall Stranger,   Reilys Luck,  The Lonesome Gods.   Still on my  Re-reads after 25 years.

You might start with his novels that have women in the lead roles.  One of these is Ride the River. The girl is a Sackett.  Summaries of most of his novels are available on the Fantastic Fiction site at http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ .

My personal favorites are Flint, A Man Called Noon, and, frankly, almost every other one. Although, The Lonesome Gods is only on my shelf because I have all of his western novels. If the hero of that novel said, "I was not afraid," one more time, I was going to kill him myself.