content: Recently I read the wonderful Peace Like a River, in which one of the youthful characters is a Zane Grey fan and writes poetry in the western mode. Remembering that Zane Grey was one of those authors I always meant to read, I located a copy of Riders of the Purple Sage and settled in.Like several of the other reviewers, I found the book an ambivalent read, but one that ultimately hooked me. The anti-Mormon tone is a bit thick, and the heroic cowboys are as realistic as James Bond. The sentimentality drips at times, and the dialog is stiff. Yet. . .the story is catching, and it is fun to see how so many of the western mythic and archetypal elements Grey weaves into his most famous novel. Great literature it isn't, but take on its own terms, it's enjoyable.