Johnny D. Boggs is widely considered one of America’s best writers of Western fiction. His epic works set in the grand American West of times past teem with cattle ranches, outlaws, hard landscapes, and the harder men and women who inhabit them. His abundant work has garnered numerous awards in the genre; this year Boggs received the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature and was also a 2020 inductee into the Western Writers Hall of Fame. Needless to say, Johnny D. Boggs knows his stuff, and loves writing about it.
Return to Red River is Boggs’ literary sequel to the 1948 Western film ‘Red River’, starring John Wayne. It is a novel about family and legacy, of man’s pursuit of glory and immortality, of struggling with what is right and what is just, of not letting the past define you. The harsh beauty of the landscape is punctuated with both beautiful and horrifying moments of human interaction; violence and death, love and rebirth.
I’ll be honest, this was my first foray into Johnny D. Boggs’ work, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Seamlessly transporting you to this era of America’s history, it’s like witnessing a Frederick Remington or Charles Russell painting come to life, except better. Boggs’ prose is enthralling, from the grit of the camp coffee between your teeth to the stampede heading directly at you, it’s as if you are taking part in one of the last remnants of a way of life that is crumbling in the face of encroaching modernity.
Personally, I can’t wait to start another of Johnny’s highly entertaining, gripping books. His love of the epic American West brilliantly shines through his writing, and makes for a transportive and satisfying experience.
Review by Joel
$7.99 Mass Market Paperback
Return to Red River is in stock at the bookstore, you can order it online or call us at (505) 988-4226.