Replying to myself, for anyone reading this: don't pass over novels either. Western was a written genre as well as a movie genre.

I mean, Western once was a highly popular literary genre and not just because they were easy reads.

Like with movies there was a lot of crap but there was also some true gems. Works that are still really relevant nowadays... and there is still the occasional new novel that is published that will have you wonder why there isn't more like it.

To name just 1 old-ish (I'm almost the same age as this book so, no, it's not old it's just getting aged enough to deliver all its qualities to the amateur :p) and 2 recent-ish books:

• True Grit, Charles Portis. Yep, the story that inspired the 1960-something movie with John Wayne and, imvho, the much more interesting 2010 version.. that made we run buy the novel ;)
• Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry.
• The Revenant, Michael Punke. The book that inspired the excellent 2015 movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.

There are so much more, not forgetting short stories too, or essays and memoirs! All those books are waiting in many public libraries barely ever read, always willing to surprise the adventurous reader that will be daring enough to change their habits and pick them instead of what they usually read.