Scribd
Upload
18 views2 pages

Kelton's Western Short Stories Anthology

This document provides a review of the short story collection "Hard Ride" by Elmer Kelton. The collection contains many of Kelton's western romance stories from the 1950s originally published in "Ranch Romances" magazine. Both western and romance fans will enjoy the stories, which are set in both the 20th century and the Old West period and follow the romantic exploits of cowboys, ranchers, and other characters. While the short story format limits character development, fans of clean, old-fashioned cowboy romance will appreciate this anthology.

Uploaded by

Angel
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
18 views2 pages

Kelton's Western Short Stories Anthology

This document provides a review of the short story collection "Hard Ride" by Elmer Kelton. The collection contains many of Kelton's western romance stories from the 1950s originally published in "Ranch Romances" magazine. Both western and romance fans will enjoy the stories, which are set in both the 20th century and the Old West period and follow the romantic exploits of cowboys, ranchers, and other characters. While the short story format limits character development, fans of clean, old-fashioned cowboy romance will appreciate this anthology.

Uploaded by

Angel
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Hard Ride

WRITTEN BY ​ELMER KELTON

REVIEW BY ​B. J. SEDLOCK

Western fans as well as romance aficionados will like this collection of Kelton’s short stories

from the 1950s. Many of them originally appeared in ​Ranch Romances​ magazine and are

now collected for the first time in book form. Some take place in the 20th century, such as

“Rodeo Clown,” where title character Kelly Shanklin bears a grudge against a bull rider who

stole his girl. And in “The Moocher,” diner waitress Kitty Hagen uses her budding romance

with rancher Bill Matthews to finally get rid of her mooch of a brother, Gerald.

But most of the stories are set in the Old West period. In “Sidesaddle Sweetheart,” Jay

Lockaby, down to his last dollar, is forced to join a cattle drive that includes the rancher’s

daughter and a trail boss he dislikes. In “When Happy Lost His Laughter,” ranch hand

Happy Lane’s courtship of the boss’s sister Patty Thorpe is rocky, because she claims he

isn’t serious enough. And in “Long Ride, Hard Ride,” Confederate officer Miles Overstreet

must capture a wagon train of Union munitions in 1862 New Mexico Territory, while

commanding a unit of the army’s worst troops.

Kelton was an iconic, multiple-award-winning Western author. This posthumous collection

is my first introduction to his work, so I can’t compare it to his longer fiction. In these

stories, the cowboys, ranchers and sheriffs are ordinary men, not larger-than-life candidates

for superhero-dom. The short story format means that there isn’t much time to flesh out the
minor characters, so many of the women and villains tend to the one-dimensional. But if

you like clean, old-fashioned cowboy-meets-girl fiction, this anthology is for you

You might also like