Six Gun Mystique

I read this book in a film class that I took as an elective in college some 25 years ago. I got a big kick out of it and had no idea that it was expected to be anything but "academic." There was nothing lost on this reader. I thought too that it broached a sociological aspect of the tenacity of the handgun's power over the minds of Americans. It, the handgun, will be with us always. The US is not Japan, England, or Australia. It is a shame, too. The book goes a long ways toward helping us understand the "mystique" behind the weapon. It is not only about the Western and the archetypal hero's psychic split between the "savages" in the wild and the stereotypical townspeople. It is about a tool that became part of the US, for good and bad. I'd rather that the handgun did not exist. The book helps explain how one generation reproduces the cultural conditions for its existence in the next generation. I came to these pages looking for this book since my book from 25 years ago has been lost to the years. I'm glad that I found it.

I will agree with the other reviewer that some of this is very academic. Cawelti, though, dissects the subject well. If you are used to reading college-level literary criticism, this will not pose a problem at all. You can also skip over these parts fairly easily and make it to the bits where the author explains what elements make up a western, either in film or in print. If you're interested in what makes a western story tick, then i would recommend this book. I haven't seen the newer revised edition, but that one should be your best bet.