Man of the Forest

I hate to discourage anyone from buying any Zane Grey novel, but "Dorn of the Mountains" is the novel you should buy, not The Man of the Forest. Get the book Zane Grey wrote before the editors got a hold of it. Five Star/Gale/Cengage is doing a wonderful thing by bringing out these Zane Grey masterpieces as he wrote them, so we as Zane Grey fans can "see" the real Zane Grey. It's a battle every writer fights when he writes something and wants to get it published--compromise. Even the great ones faced this, even after they became great. In the Man of the Forest version the lead male character is Milt Dale; in the "new" book he is Milt Dorn. The reason for the change was this novel was first published in 1918 and angry German sentiment was running high because of the 1st World War. Also in this book Zane Grey begins to relate his ideas on ecology and the loss of the natural resources; as well as telling us a story about a "loner" who is uncertain about his own future. Yet, when Helen Rayner appears to be in "real" trouble he leaves his solitariness to defend and befriend her and her little sister who have come west to visit relatives, and to escape a past. There are some good characters and characterizations in this book that lend creedence to the research of location and personage as only Zane Grey could do it. I HIGHLY recommend the Dorn of the Mountain version; it is far superior to the "original", yet it still worth buying.

While taking refuge from the deep wilds of Arizona, in a wooded forest nestled in within the belly of the White Mountains, Milt Dale, loner and a man of the forest, overhears a plot to kidnap the two nieces of one of the leading ranchers in the area, Al Auchincloss. Auchincloss, a man whose fierce and rugged way of life has not engendered himself to the townsfolk of Pine or Show Down, doesn't expect any in return, and as a result, Milt knows the old dying man will find none that will come to his aid when he needs it most. So he springs into action. Head of this plot is Beasley, the other big name rancher, rotten and weak, he is a man of no honest ways and aims to steal the land and use the girls when Auchincloss dies. He employs outlaws and rustlers to do his work but not even the likes of Snake Anson and his ilk can deter Milt from saving the girls from doom. Helen 'Nell' Reyner and her kid sister Bo (her real name is Nancy) are making out for the West where women are scarce and their Auchincloss blood can finally roam free. Bo is young and vivacious, elemental and savage in her thoughts about the West. She willing offers herself up to the wilds of a land that is both mysterious and glorious to her, and revels and delights in the idea of such freedom; she's also uncommonly fiery and headstrong, willful but courageous, traits which are greatly needed to live in the brutal ruggedness of western living. Helen, on the other hand, older, though no wiser, clings to her safe ideals of religion and civilization, unaware that they're about to be greatly upset upon meeting and eventually befriending Milt, a man whose views are Darwinian in eloquence and sublime in his keen observations between life and death, survival and fighting. With a foolish and rotten pursuer, Harve Riggs, trailing after Helen, only to remind her of what the cost of living out in the West is, and a chance meeting with a young Texas cowboy, Tom Carmichael, aka Las Vegas, who comes to the girls' rescue more than once, both play a role in the girls' acceptance of life, and that they are fighters. Bo, who dreams of nothing but adventure and high stakes is prepared to pay the cost, whatever it might be, while Helen does her best to maintain the dignity and pride that has been her shield, and her mask. As Milt safely tucks the girls away in his Seneca in the forest, with the help of his Mormon friends, Roy Beeman and his brothers, Helen is finding herself challenged and succumbing to wiles of nature, and falling in love. So is Dale, he too is realizing the nature of his own existence, the emptiness that not even his tamed pets or the beauty of nature can fill, and learning that only the touch and the eyes of a woman can complete him. All three are becoming more and molding into beings they never thought was probable, challenged and constantly living by day, and dreaming of the future. As the showdown looms, Bo is kidnapped by Riggs who has teamed up with Anson, and Beasley who bod

While taking refuge from the deep wilds of Arizona, in a wooded forest nestled in within the belly of the White Mountains, Milt Dale, loner and a man of the forest, overhears a plot to kidnap the two nieces of one of the leading ranchers in the area, Al Auchincloss. Auchincloss, a man whose fierce and rugged way of life has not engendered himself to the townsfolk of Pine or Show Down, doesn't expect any in return, and as a result, Milt knows the old dying man will find none that will come to his aid when he needs it most. So he springs into action. Head of this plot is Beasley, the other big name rancher, rotten and weak, he is a man of no honest ways and aims to steal the land and use the girls when Auchincloss dies. He employs outlaws and rustlers to do his work but not even the likes of Snake Anson and his ilk can deter Milt from saving the girls from doom. Helen 'Nell' Reyner and her kid sister Bo (her real name is Nancy) are making out for the West where women are scarce and their Auchincloss blood can finally roam free. Bo is young and vivacious, elemental and savage in her thoughts about the West. She willing offers herself up to the wilds of a land that is both mysterious and glorious to her, and revels and delights in the idea of such freedom; she's also uncommonly fiery and headstrong, willful but courageous, traits which are greatly needed to live in the brutal ruggedness of western living. Helen, on the other hand, older, though no wiser, clings to her safe ideals of religion and civilization, unaware that they're about to be greatly upset upon meeting and eventually befriending Milt, a man whose views are Darwinian in eloquence and sublime in his keen observations between life and death, survival and fighting. With a foolish and rotten pursuer, Harve Riggs, trailing after Helen, only to remind her of what the cost of living out in the West is, and a chance meeting with a young Texas cowboy, Tom Carmichael, aka Las Vegas, who comes to the girls' rescue more than once, both play a role in the girls' acceptance of life, and that they are fighters. Bo, who dreams of nothing but adventure and high stakes is prepared to pay the cost, whatever it might be, while Helen does her best to maintain the dignity and pride that has been her shield, and her mask. As Milt safely tucks the girls away in his Seneca in the forest, with the help of his Mormon friends, Roy Beeman and his brothers, Helen is finding herself challenged and succumbing to wiles of nature, and falling in love. So is Dale, he too is realizing the nature of his own existence, the emptiness that not even his tamed pets or the beauty of nature can fill, and learning that only the touch and the eyes of a woman can complete him. All three are becoming more and molding into beings they never thought was probable, challenged and constantly living by day, and dreaming of the future. As the showdown looms, Bo is kidnapped by Riggs who has teamed up with Anson, and Beasley who bodily