The West Rules with an Iron Fist

In this novel, E.L. Docotorow tells how the town of Hard Times in the Dakota Territory earned its name. Though the overall desperation seems to be exaggerated, by reading this novel one begins to see the fantasy behind the Hollywood version of the American West. Welcome to Hard Times provides readers with a picture of what kind of hardscrabble existence the western settlers actually endured, as opposed to the sanitized images Hollywood has provided …

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