I started writing about the John Wayne book yesterday before I was interrupted by the chance to go home, which was a good thing. I'd never read anything by Garry Wills before, but just based on his extensive list of books I assumed he's the type of quasi-historian I really don't like--very prolific, which means probably not a very in-depth researcher, which can lead to things such as the Stephen Ambrose fiasco. But I will say that clearly some extensive research went into this book, so maybe I am wrong about Mr. Wills in general.

What drew me to this book was that, rather than a celebrity biography of Marion Morrison/John Wayne, it claimed to be a biography of the concept or cultural figure of "John Wayne". To do that, Wills focuses on the key Wayne films, especially the ones directed by John Ford or Howard Hawkes, to show how Wayne's characters worked narratively and how they contributed to the Wayne image. This book succeeds as an in-depth analysis of key films such as Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (a great film), and The Searchers, without being very jargony or, conversely, overly concerned with off-screen gossip. It also proves a corrective to the error of thinking of Westerns in general or Wayne's Westerns in particularly as all being the same. I would make a case that the Western has produced some of our most interesting films and filmic themes, and Wills pretty much agrees.

What I didn't feel this book ultimately did, however, was answer the greater questions it posed about how and why John Wayne has become such an imposing figure in our culture, such that even 24 years after his death everyone knows what kind of rugged masculinity and "American-ness" Wayne represents. Instead, Wills gets caught up in being a film buff--an interesting, thoughtful one, but not one who spends much time breaking out of the material and drawing larger conclusions. The concluding remarks about Wayne as Adam figure and his rehashing of Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier mythos could have come in an essay totally removed from the rest of the book. This is a cool book for Western fans to read, but not one with the ultimate meaning I was hoping for.

In other news, what the hell is up with the French Open. On the women's side, Saturday will be the happiest day in Belgian history regardless of the outcome. On the men's side, one semifinal rehashes last year's final, but the other one is just weird. I had never heard of Guillermo Coria before, and he's the 7 seed! I guess the Argentine invasion we were promised a few years ago has come to pass. And on the other side we've got Dutchman Martin Verkerk, whose career record coming into the tournament was 22-28. And it's not like he's a newcomer (turned pro in 1996) or a doubles specialist (career high doubles rank: 102). This is his third Grand Slam tourney ever. Bizarro.