Farmer, David R. Jack Rittenhouse: a Western Literary Life. University of New Mexico Press, 2026.
Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I often get to read interesting books. This is one of those books.
I must preface this review by saying this was one of the best biographies I have read in a long time. I felt like I knew Jack Rittenhouse intimately by the time I was finished. An excellent if dense (said under breath), read!
Jack Rittenhouse’s childhood molded his fascination with books at an early age. He worked in a library as a teenager and helped print materials for the Boy Scouts. He wrote poems, plays, and essays in his spare time. As an adult he became a bookseller, started a private press and owned over 9,000 books. He seemed destined to always be surrounded by the written word. When he started to write his own books he concentrated on writing books on topics that fascinated him on a personal level. His first foray into authorship was a guidebook for the old Route 66. As a devotee to the desert, he romanticized the original 5,000 mile journey from Chicago to Los Angeles. His second was a niche subject about American horse-drawn vehicles. Always exemplary with his work ethic, Rittenhouse went on to display indefatigable ambition and a passion for researching a variety of topics. I found his commitment to attending meetings of the Western Historical Association impressive. For twenty-eight years he didn’t miss a one. There is so much more to Mr. Rittenhouse that you will just have to read for yourself.
As an aside, what happened to New York City’s book row? I have never heard of it.
Author fact: Farmer was once the library director for Southern Methodist University.
Book trivia: Jack Rittenhouse is the first ever biography of Rittenhouse.
~*LunaSea*~ 