Local authors explore Westerns and other topics

Apr. 19—New Mexico writers are a prolific lot. Following is a sampling of books by Santa Fe writers, starting with a new release by one of The New Mexican's own.

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RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY by Robert Nott, University of New Mexico Press, March 2024, 152 pages

Nott, a reporter for The Santa Fe New Mexican for a quarter- century, co-wrote with Max Evans Goin' Crazy with Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends, published in 2014. He revisits that territory with Ride the High Country, which focuses on Peckinpah's second film. Peckinpah flouted some stereotypes of classic Westerns, aiming to add adult themes to the often-predictable formula.

Peckinpah succeeded in helping the genre adapt to changing times, Nott writes. Ride the High Country also launched Peckinpah's career; his first film, The Deadly Companions, was low-budget, and the young director chafed at the limitations placed on him.

Ride the High Country — like the following book, Ride Lonesome — is part of the Reel West series from UNM Press focusing on Western films.

Nott will discuss his book at 6 p.m. April 30 at Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 202 Galisteo Street.

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RIDE LONESOME by Kirk Ellis, University of New Mexico Press, 2023, 184 pages

Ellis, an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer, splits his time between Santa Fe and Palm Springs, California. Ride Lonesome is the fifth in a series of films directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott. Ellis aims to show how the film marks a turning point in the development of Western films and delves into the vision of Boetticher and writing partner Burt Kennedy.

Boetticher was prolific in the 1950s; Ride Lonesome was the 20th film he directed in that decade. He would only direct five more, the last in 1985, before dying in 2001.

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THE PLANET YOU INHERIT by Larry L. Rasmussen, Broadleaf Books, 2022, 213 pages

Rasmussen subtitled this book "Letters to My Grandchildren When Uncertainty's a Sure Thing." Those grandchildren, Eduardo and Martín, are pictured on one of the first pages. The first chapter, "Epoch Times," is a love letter from Rasmussen to Eduardo, in which he states about generational differences, "Although human history and human experience were our main subjects, earth science and planetary experience will be yours. Our human drama is a chapter in Earth's drama, and Earth's drama is a chapter in the galaxy's."

In his author's note, Rasmussen states that humanity is making the transition from one geological epoch, the holecene, to a more challenging one, the anthropecene.

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LOST IN A ROOM FULL OF DINOSAURS by P.J. Christman, Highgate Lane Press, 2022, 292 pages

Christman recently had six paperback novels published. Lost in a Room Full of Dinosaurs takes place in a fictional elementary school on Santa Fe's south side. The book's librarian often ponders the intellectual gap between the books surrounding students and their digital realities: TikTok, video games, and Instagram videos.

The librarian, Christopher Connelly, also wonders if the lessons students and teachers learn during safety drills will ever be needed. A school shooting confirms the librarian's worst fears.