Washington Post books editor John Williams joins us to discuss... John Williams' Butcher's Crossing, orginally published in 1960. The story, set in the 1870s, follows a Harvard dropout as he attempts to find a truer version of himself in the West. We talk about the book's challenge to Emersonian transcendentalism, American rapaciousness, and Western archetypes. (And worry not, we don't play the theme to Star Wars.) References:StonerWilliam MaxwellHenry JamesJean-Patrick ManchetteEve BabitzBarbara ComynsTove JanssonNatalia GinzburgSylvia Townsend WarnerAlbert BierstadtAnthony MannBudd BoetticherThe Coen brothersClint Eastwood"Nature" by Ralph Waldo EmersonFred SchneiderThe Confidence-Man by Herman MelvilleKurtz from Heart of Darkness by Joseph ConradBlood Meridian by Cormac McCarthyJohn Ford's The SearchersJohn WayneInto the Wild by Jon Krakauer"Rip Van Winkle" by Washington IrvingEdward Abbey Find us on Twitter or Instagram, and click here to view our most up-to-date episode schedule.