{"product_id":"on-a-silver-desert-the-life-of-ernest-haycox-9780806194851","title":"On a Silver Desert: The Life of Ernest Haycox","description":"\u003cp\u003eVocal Republican, accomplished gardener, lover of large cars, Ernest Haycox was nothing if not three-dimensional. Despite a haphazard childhood that included abandonment by his parents, Haycox (1899-1950) decided early on to be a writer. Once he began he did not stop, approaching writing with both an unparalleled passion and a keen business sense that included normal business hours in a downtown Portland office.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUntil now little has been written about Haycox, the famed \u003ci\u003eCollier's\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSaturday Evening Post\u003c\/i\u003e contributor who wrote twenty-four novels and more than two hundred short stories. Bridging the gap between the formula Western and the literary western novel, Haycox frequently incorporated actual historical events into his works: \u003ci\u003eTrouble Shooter\u003c\/i\u003e documents the building of the Union Pacific railroad, \u003ci\u003eThe Border Trumpet\u003c\/i\u003e covers the Apache wars in Arizona, and \u003ci\u003eBugles in the Afternoon\u003c\/i\u003e draws upon the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Director John Ford adapted Haycox's work for \u003ci\u003eStagecoach\u003c\/i\u003e (1939, starring John Wayne), as did Cecil De Mille for \u003ci\u003eUnion Pacific\u003c\/i\u003e (1939, starring Barbara Stanwyck).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eErnest Haycox Jr. describes his father's life, work, and views on the craft of writing. In a remarkably candid biography, original photographs of Hollywood stars and excerpts from Haycox's correspondence, including letters from the last years of his life, round out this incisive look at a literary giant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Oklahoma Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50869663432978,"sku":"9780806194851","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_224d65cd-fd58-4d69-8b35-7901318e6ea4.jpg?v=1737765150","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/on-a-silver-desert-the-life-of-ernest-haycox-9780806194851","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}