First Horses: Stories of the New West

by Robert Franklin Gish

Overview

The fourteen stories in this collection are set in the sometimes magical, sometimes brutal Southwest: a multi-ethnic, contemporary West that encourages the reader to see beyond the stereotypes of the Old West. All of the stories depict the emotional and psychological costs of the prejudices and injustices of the Old West that have carried over into the present. Gish’s vivid storytelling utilizes compelling voices and gritty characters, tracing the recognition of remnant violence, racism, sexism, and environmental pollution carried over from earlier generations. Cutting through class and ethnicity, each story illustrates how a land and its history both determine and are determined by the people who live there.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874172119
Publisher:	University of Nevada Press
Publication date:	04/01/1993
Series:	Western Literature Series
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Robert F. Gish is the author of nearly twenty works of fiction, memoir, folktales, literary biographies and numerous monographs and essays on the literature, history, and culture of the American Southwest. His short story collections include Bad Boys and Black Sheep: Fateful Tales From the West (1996) and First Horses: Stories of the New West (1993). He taught at the University of Northern Iowa from 1967-1991, where he was University Distinguished Scholar and Professor of English. He served as Director of Ethnic Studies and Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo from 1991-2001. He holds B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English and American Studies from the University of New Mexico. He is the recipient of the Erna Fergusson Distinguished Alumni Award from UNM. Of Cherokee-Anglo American descent, Gish is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Pen West, the Authors Guild, and the Screen Actors Guild. He lives with his wife, Judith, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gish and his wife are the parents of three children and have five grandchildren. He is a jazz guitarist and vocalist by avocation. Please visit his website:www.robertfgish.com.

Editorial Reviews

"This collection of short stories examines an authentic view of tricultural life: Gish portrays Indians, Hispanics, and Anglos as they live, work, and play in the Southwest. He steers away from the romantic and racist cop outs; instead Gish draws out the life and truth of his characters revealing the quiet beauty of the Southwest and its peoples. Highly commendable." —Jimmy Santiago Baca
 

"Robert Gish has his finger on the pulse of the West. First Horses is a fine collection of stories about who we Westerners are, how we got here—and where do we go from now?" —James Welch

“To begin to understand the special mix of New Mexico culture, or just to savor some masterful writing, there couldn’t be a more absorbing way than to get quiet and read Fresh Horses.” —Pat Henry Lockhart, Albuquerque Journal, April 18, 1993

From the Publisher

The 14 stories in Gish's ( Songs of My Hunter Heart ) sensitive collection offer us glimpses of life in the 1950s American Southwest, a multiethnic society flavored by the lingering influence of the Old West. When an Native American waitress tries out her father's chili recipe on the regulars at the Bronco Cafe, it leads to a brief but intense discussion on whether Spaniards or Indians should get credit for the area's first-rate chili and for the first horses in North America. A well-intentioned teenager who plans to help a friend overcome his shyness about singing in public learns an unexpected lesson about sharing a talent ``without embarrassment.'' A dog named Kimo teaches his owner, a veterinarian, that the value of the animal kingdom transcends ``food or friendship or finances.'' The author's Christian morality pervades several of the pieces, including one anti-abortion story and another in which a woman, whose daughter is facing a crisis, looks back at her own childhood, when she was thought to have a gift as a healer--a ``blessing'' she wanted no part of. Since Gish makes his points so clearly, it is unfortunate that Weaver's foreword reveals too much about the stories it intends to praise. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Like the variously colored threads in a Navajo blanket, common themes are woven throughout this excellent collection of short stories. Their backdrop is post-World War II New Mexico and what Gish calls its Anglo/Indian/Hispanic society. His characters, shaped as much by the region's environment as by their heredities, discover the delights and consequences of overstepping accepted racial and social boundaries in the ``New West'' of chrome-laden cars, honky-tonks, and greasy-spoon diners. As Benjamin Capps did so well for west Texas in his Tales of the Southwest ( LJ 12/90), Gish interprets the people and places of New Mexico. Highly recommended for all short fiction collections.-- Robert Jordan, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City

Library Journal

YA-Fourteen short stories about life in the Southwest in the 1950s. In the first story, the narrator describes the burden of having the ``gift'' to heal the sick. Another tale is set in the Bronco Cafe, where a Native American waitress argues with a Mexican-American customer about the origin of chili and the first horses in America. A story from a college campus illustrates how unexpectedly and randomly tragedy can strike; another introduces a Baptist minister who leads others to salvation while living a sinful life. These selections are sensitive, gritty, often ironic, and sometimes mystical. Gish tightly weaves his prose and offers descriptions that leave vivid mental pictures. First Horses offers some fine pieces for reading aloud and discussing; the accounts of these adult and young adult characters defining themselves and their place in the world will neatly fit into whole-language units.-Sue David, Cedar Falls High School, IA

School Library Journal