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The Guardian’s Clive Sinclair has posted a great top-10 list of westerns.

Until last year, the western was a genre blind spot for me. I had never really considered the western. I was dimly aware of my grandfather having had a large collection of Louis L’Amour paperbacks, but I hadn’t read any. Last year though, I read Lonesome Dove on a friend’s recommendation, with considerable trepidation—based primarily on the incredibly cheesy cover painting.

I’ve seen Lonesome Dove sneered at in some hipper-than-thou quarters, but to my mind it thoroughly deserved its 1985 Pulitzer Prize. On the surface it seems like a fairly straightforward western in the “oater” tradition, but the real power of the book creeps up on you slowly.

At first, you’re lulled by McMurtry’s ability to convey the rich interior lives of all his characters through solid, but economical prose. Even Festus-like minor characters as presented fully realized individuals. McMurtry is so convincing that, fifty pages in, you find yourself completely invested in these yokels and their hopes and dreams.

It’s at this point that you realize that McMurtry doesn’t have your best interests at heart.

Not many writers are capable of treating lovingly rendered characters as mercilessly as McMurtry. Nor are many genre writers as resolutely determined to subvert your expectations in such carefully realistic ways. Give Lonesome Dove a fair chance and I guarantee you’ll be surprised.

Larry McMurtry is in the news these days for the release of a wonderful memoir of his 50 years in the used book trade. McMurtry still owns what is arguably the largest used book store in the U.S. Booked Up of Archer City Texas. McMurtry actually rescued his dusty Texan hometown from obscurity by turning it into a destination for book lovers—a book town. My sister has visited McMutry’s book Mecca and brought back great tales of its laid-back allure.