Richard Wheeler, Livingston’s award-winning author of historical Western novels, will read from his latest book, The Richest Hill on Earth (Forge, Dec 2011) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 15, 2011.
A newspaper man most of his life, Wheeler turned to fiction at age 50, and in a flurry of creativity has written more than 50 books in the decades since. While grounding his work in solid research and historical fact, Wheeler enjoys twisting his plots, turning the giants of our history into the flawed men and women they actually were, and taking on social and political issues that resonate in Western communities to this day.
The Richest Hill on Earth is no exception. Wheeler tells the story of Butte and the Copper King wars from the point of view of ordinary people. With a journalist serving as his protagonist, Wheeler immerses his readers in a Butte that “looks like a cancerous mélange of smoky mine boilers and rudely constructed sheds… It is also a city full of stories, perfect for a journalist looking to make a name for himself.”
Larry McMurtry calls The Richest Hill on Earth “a haunting novel about hubris and its consequences.” Kirkus reviews it as “passionate, intelligently written, thoroughly entertaining historical fiction.”
A five-time Spur Award Winner and recipient of the Owen Wister Award, Wheeler is well-known around Livingston, and a good friend of the bookstore. We are thrilled to welcome him, and to invite the public to this free event. A reception and book signing will follow the presentation. For more information, call Elk River Books at (406) 224-5802.
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