The Greatest Western Novel Ever Written! In 1989 the New York Times wrote the following about The Virginian: \"The 1902 novel, ancestor of the classic western, turned out to be not only corny and flag-waving but also intolerant and reactionary by today's standards. The story includes sentimental lectures on Americanism that sound like a jingoist speech by Theodore Roosevelt, to whom the book is dedicated.\" God forbid that a book, in the eyes of the Times, should be \"flag waving\" or view America as an exceptional place. But credit must be given where credit is due. The Times was right; The Virginian does all that and more. In fact, it established the rugged, individualistic, self-dependent, cowboy as a cultural icon in our society. Indeed, it can be said that the western fictional genre began the day this book was published; and it was the best selling book of its day. You would be hard pressed to find a better endorsement for any book than to have the New York Times condemn it as containing... dare I say the words... \"sentimental lectures on Americanism.\" You would also be hard pressed to find a better western novel. Zane Gray, Louis L'Amour, Larry McMurtry, and all the others began right here. The First True Western Novel. Condemned by the New York Times. Now Available to You | The Virginian (Cortero Pantheon Edition) by Owen Wister, Paperback | Indigo Chapters