Editing Western (genre) (section)

===Literature===
{{Main|Western fiction}}

[[Western fiction]] is a genre of literature set in the American Old West, most commonly between 1860 and 1900. The first critically recognized Western was ''[[The Virginian (novel)|The Virginian]]'' (1902) by [[Owen Wister]].<ref>{{cite web |date=June 27, 2017 |title=Classic Wild West Literature |url=https://wildwestliving.com/blogs/news/wild-west-literature}}</ref> Other well-known writers of Western fiction include [[Zane Grey]], from the early 1900s, [[Ernest Haycox]], [[Luke Short (writer)|Luke Short]], and [[Louis L'Amour]], from the mid 20th century. Many writers better known in other genres, such as [[Leigh Brackett]], [[Elmore Leonard]], and [[Larry McMurtry]], have also written Western novels. The genre's popularity peaked in the 1960s, due in part to the shuttering of many pulp magazines, the popularity of [[Television Westerns|televised Westerns]], and the rise of the spy novel. Readership began to drop off in the mid- to late 1970s and reached a new low in the 2000s. Most bookstores, outside of a few Western states, now only carry a small number of Western novels and short-story collections.<ref>{{cite book |author=McVeigh, Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdyqBgAAQBAJ |title=The American Western |date=2007 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press| isbn=9780748629442 }}</ref>

Literary forms that share similar themes include stories of the American frontier, the [[gaucho literature|''gaucho'' literature]] of [[Argentina]], and tales of the settlement of the Australian Outback.

[[File:Wild West 1908.jpg|thumb|300px|"As Wild felled one of the [[redskin]]s by a blow from the butt of his [[revolver]], and sprang for the one with the [[tomahawk]], the chief's daughter suddenly appeared. Raising her hands, she exclaimed, 'Go back, Young Wild West. I will save her!{{'"}} (1908)]]