Jane Tompkins, West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1992).
Overview of the genre and discussion of representative texts (not contemporary).
The identification of the elements of the genre in part 1 is especially useful.
Bradford W. Wright, Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in
America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001).
Comprehensive study of comic books and reader practices, and analysis of the
ways comic books reflect national concerns such as war, drug use, and racism.
PEOPLE OF INTEREST
Rudolfo A. Anaya (1937– )
Best known for Bless Me, Ultima (1972). His other works include Heart of Aztlan
(1976), Tortuga (1979), The Silence of the Llano: Short Stories (1992), The Legend of
La Llorona (1984), The Adventures of Juan Chicaspatas (1985), Lord of the Dawn:
The Legend of Quetzalcóatl (1987), Alburquerque (1992), and Jalamanta: A Message
from the Desert (1996). His series of detective novels featuring detective Sonny
Baca includes Zia Summer (1995), Rio Grande Fall (1996), Shaman Winter (1998),
and Jemez Springs (2005). He has also written plays (The Season of La Llorona
[1987] and Matachines [1992]), and travel essays, such as A Chicano in China
(1986).
Philip K. Dick (1928–1982)
Science-fiction author of thirty-six novels and more than one hundred short sto-
ries, known for his explorations of morality and metaphysics. Many of his works
have been adapted into films, including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
(1968), which was adapted as Blade Runner (1982).
Frank Miller (1957– )
Writer and film director best known for his graphic novels Ronin (1987), Batman:
The Dark Knight Returns (2002), and Sin City (1992–2000).
Walter Mosley (1952– )
Writer of crime fiction, science fiction, erotica, and literary fiction; best known
for the Easy Rawlins series, which begins with Devil in a Blue Dress in 1990
and ends with Blonde Faith in 2007, consisting of nine novels, all with a color
in the title, and two short-story collections. Three Fearless Jones novels are also
crime fiction, while three Socrates Fortlow books are best described as a cross
between crime fiction and novel. Notable among his other works are the novels
RL’s Dream (1995) and The Man in My Basement (2004), an homage to Ralph
Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952), and nonfiction on issues including writing and
peace.
Barbara Neely (1941– )
Novelist and short-story writer, author of Blanche White mysteries. The first,
Blanche on the Lam (1992), won the Agatha, Macavity, and Anthony Awards,
three of the four major awards recognizing a first mystery novel.