Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Great Endurance Horse Race | 1963 | Jack Schaefer | Buy |
| 2 | Heroes Without Glory | 1965 | Jack Schaefer | Buy |
| 3 | Conversations with a Pocket Gopher | 1978 | Jack Schaefer | Buy |
| 4 | Jack Schaefer And The American West | 1978 | Jack Schaefer | Buy |
Jack Schaefer’s non-fiction grew naturally from the same fascination with the American West that shaped his novels and short stories. After relocating to New Mexico, he became deeply interested in the land, its animals, and the people who had lived and worked there before the West was romanticized by Hollywood. These four books, written over a fifteen-year period, show a different side of the author best known for Shane and Monte Walsh.
The Great Endurance Horse Race (1963) tells the true story of a punishing long-distance horse race across the American frontier. Heroes Without Glory (1965) collects profiles of men and women whose contributions to the West were real but largely forgotten. His later non-fiction became more personal and reflective. Conversations with a Pocket Gopher (1978) is a collection of nature essays about the desert wildlife around his Santa Fe home, while Jack Schaefer And The American West (1978) looks at the region through his own eyes as both an outsider and a lifelong student of its history.