Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

True Grit tells the story of fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross. A coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash money. That's when Mattie fearlessly heads out to avenge her father's blood, convincing one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest U.S. marshal there is, to accompany her. But their plans run into an obstacle - namely, a Texas Ranger who is also investigating...

Chronicles the three-year battle of a mentally ill, but perceptive, teenage girl against a world of her own creation, emphasizing her relationship with the doctor who gave her the ammunition of self-understanding with which to destroy that world of fantasy.

Maggie the Cat fights for the lives of her damaged and drinking husband Brick, herself, and their unborn children in the revised version of the dramatization of Big Daddy's birthday and deathday party and family gathering

The provocative title of Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness introduces an equally provocative thesis about ethics. Traditional ethics has always been suspicious of self-interest, praising acts that are selfless in intent and calling amoral or immoral acts that are motivated by self interest. Ayn Rand's view is exactly the opposite. This collection of nineteen essays is an effective summary of Ayn Rand's philosophy, which holds the value of the individual...

"The American Dream" is a satirical one-act play about a family who receive a visitor, a Young Man, who turns out to be the long-lost twin of the son they disciplined until he had died. Dubbed "the American Dream", the young man is adopted as a suitable replacement. "The Zoo Story" is an one-act play about two strangers, Peter and Jerry, who meet on a park bench in New York City's Central Park. Jerry's increasing mental instablity as he converses...

Written by American author and dedicated abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Toms Cabin" is a poignant novel which shows the harsh reality of a slaves life in the 1800s. Uncle Tom, an African-American slave who believes in the power of Christian faith. The book would be a major contributor to the Civil War because its compelling portrayal of slaves as fellow human beings left little room for compromise: if slaves were indeed...

When a vicious band of Blackfeet Indians attacks two homesteads along the Yellowstone River, they leave behind nothing but wreckage and blood. Though what's even more disturbing is what they've taken with them. Second Lieutenant Bret Hollister is charged with finding two women who were taken hostage and bringing those responsible to justice. But when an unfortunate mishap results in the massacre of almost his entire patrol, he's forced to return to...

Lawrence Shaw is known on both sides of the border--as the fastest gun alive and for other reasons he'd like to forget. He's just spent a month in Old Mexico, drowning his demons in mescal, tequila, and peyote wine. But when his drunken sabbatical ends, he faces more than a lethal hangover. It begins when Shaw kills two bushwhacking banditos, becomes quarry for ruthless bounty hunters led by a cunning Mexican agent, and stumbles across a long-dead...

Former hired gun Larry Shaw tries to help a prostitute determine the father of her unborn child. Of the three candidates, one stands out--the notorious William H. Bonney. And as a cattle war brews, Bonney has a proposal for Shaw--lend your iron to our side and help us blast our way to victory.