Books about Rodeo or Cowboys

[Snowpoint]

Can you recommend any books about Rodeo events or professional Cowboys/ cattle ranchers? When I Google Cowboy novels, all the results are romance novels.

I have some ideas for a contemporary fantasy set at a Rodeo, but need to learn more about the subject. I'd like to read a few novels, rather than a few text books first.

 

[Philip Overby]

Well, I didn't expect this topic.

But a good one nonetheless. I can't think of any rodeo ones off hand, but you might try Larry McMurty (sp?) for cattle ranchers. Lonesome Dove is a big one that covers that kind of life. I never read the books, but the old mini-series was excellent. One of my favorite Westerns of all time.

 

[buyjupiter]

Lonesome Dove is an excellent introduction to Westerns.

I'm trying to think of good Westerns that cover that kind of topic...but most of the Westerns I've read are more focused on writing about old school ideas of manhood and the adventures that happen along the cattle trail.

If you're looking more for a feel of what kind of things happen when you're a rancher than looking for adventures in the rodeo, I might recommend:

-Elmore Leonard's early works. 3:10 to Yuma is one of his Western stories.
-Louis L'Amour--the Sackett saga is more frontiersy and mid-1800s/late 1800s so I might stay away from those. But any of his other shorter novels would work as a good intro to cattle driving/challenges of ranch life/frontier life...which could be modernized a bit.
-Larry McMurtry. Horseman Pass By is what Hud is based upon. Also, any of the Lonesome Dove quartet.

I have not read these, so can't recommend it but: http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Rodeo-Riders-Dusty-Richards/dp/0451206118

And: http://www.amazon.com/Rodeo-Riders-3-Final-Ride/dp/0451201930/ref=pd_sim_b_1

 

[kayd_mon]

Western fantasy, hmmm. The closest I've read was Alloy of Law (Sanderson) and an old choose your own adventure book, where you time-travel to Buffalo Bill's rodeo with Annie Oakley shooting at you and everything. Lots of room for stories in that sub-genre.

Oh, I have no real advice on what to read, since I don't read too many cowboy books. The closest thing to that that I've read have been early Native American literature, which was written in the 1800s US.

 

[TWErvin2]

Lonesome Dove, the novel as well as the mini series (as others have said) would be a good look at the life of a cowboy, especially the novel which goes into more detail (it's about 950 pages, if I recall). There isn't much with respect to rodeos, however. Another novel would be Ghost of Lost Eagle. There is a little romance, but that's not the main focus and is pretty historically accurate.

There may be documentaries on Rodeos as well as some nonfiction books at your local library you could reference.