Shower of Gold: A Western Story

For an author to be truthful to his muse, he must be allowed to write the way he wants to write, and have published what he writes. Zane Grey faced great opposition when it came to being allowed to write what he wanted in the way he wanted. I know every authors does, but the changes made in his stories seem excessive. Were these changes what made him successful? Or, would he have been just as great had his stories been left alone? Only time will tell, I suppose, as each of these "new" Zane Grey novels are published. But from my perspective, of having been an avid ZG fan for over 40 years, these "new" books will only enhance the writer to an even higher level, and maybe earn him the respect and praise he so richly deserves from the literary establishment. That he chose the West to be the settings of his novels should not detract or abuse him from being reviewed on equal terms with other writers who set their novels elsewhere. The deep inner conflict one finds with Dick Gale in this story is no less than any other character found in classic literature; nor the obstacles he must overcome to find himself and his place in life. The desert is a perfect place to show how man must fight to survive and eventually to flourish. Psycho-dramas some critics have labeled ZG's work, and to a point they are that, but they are the stuff from which we all have struggled and fought against in life--typical human emotion and behavior--but played out on a stage as wide as the horizon and as high as the sky itself. Remember, the "OLD WEST" or the frontier was termed closed about 1890, and a wave of nostalgia for it had begun just about the time Zane Grey began to write. Furthermore, Shower of Gold, was a contemporary novel set in the current day and time based on the newspaper headlines of the time. Once you read the prologue, and it is a bit slow and tedious, the book takes off like a bullet and never stops. Fact, just don't read the prologue, start with chapter one instead; you'll never miss it. The story unfolds all on its own without knowing what is in the preface or introduction. Shower of Gold is one of Zane Grey's finest books.