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FREDERIC REMINTON'S FICTION
by Robert L. Gale
 Frederic Remington (1861-1909) was an exceptionally gifted painter, illustrator, sculptor, author, and reporter. Much of his fascinating life, especially as an artist, is well known. Still less generally appreciated, perhaps, is his written work, especially his fiction. This book attempts to address that alleged problem.
It begins with a chronology of Remington’s life and concludes with a bibliography of primary and secondary material (and an index). Two of Remington’s closest friends, among many who exchanged letters with him, were Theodore Roosevelt, the westerner-turned president, and Owen Wister, whose novel The Virginian Remington’s fiction easily competes with.
The main text of this book is devoted to a consideration of Remington’s 26 short stories and his two novels. It provides detailed summaries of their plots and includes critical commentary on the actions of their characters. Melodrama in the fiction, often violent, occurs along America’s nineteenth-century frontier, and south of the border, and during the Spanish-American War. Characters include pioneers, soldiers, sailors, and––perhaps most memorable of all–a varied cast of Native Americans.
Frederic Remington’s death of a ruptured appendix when he was only forty-eight was a tragic loss to America, and to the world.
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