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  • Riders of the Purple Sage

  • The Restored Edition
  • Written by: Zane Grey
  • Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
  • Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)

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Riders of the Purple Sage

Written by: Zane Grey
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
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Publisher's Summary

Now, for the first time in a century, Zane Grey’s best-known novel is presented in its original form exactly as he wrote it.

When in the early 1900s Zane Grey took his manuscript to two publishing companies, they rejected it because of the theme of Mormon polygamy, fearing it would offend their readers and subscribers. Then Grey made a special plea to Frederick Duneka, who was vice-president of Harper & Bros. and who had been Mark Twain’s editor at that company. Duneka and his wife read the novel and liked it but feared it would offend some readers. Harper & Bros. agreed to publish a changed version of the novel and purchased both the book and magazine-serial rights. Given the task of executing the necessary editorial changes, a senior editor of the company made changes in tone, diction, and style as well as content. The novel first appeared in nineteen installments in the monthly magazine Field & Stream from January 1912 to July 1913.

Blackstone Audio here presents the original, uncensored, unabridged novel Riders of the Purple Sage, obtained through the Golden West Literary Agency with the cooperation of Zane Grey’s son, Loren Grey, and the Ohio State Historical Society.

In Cottonwoods, Utah, in 1871, a woman stands accused and a man is sentenced to whipping. Into this travesty of small-town justice rides the one man whom the town elders fear. His name is Lassiter, and he is a notorious gunman who's come to avenge his sister's death. It doesn't take Lassiter long to see that this once peaceful Mormon community is controlled by the corrupt Deacon Tull, a powerful elder who's trying to take the woman's land by forcing her to marry him, branding her foreman as a dangerous 'outsider'. Lassiter vows to help them. But when the ranch is attacked by horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and a mysterious masked rider, he realizes that they're up against something bigger, and more brutal, than the land itself.
©2005 Zane Grey, Inc. (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre Fiction
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What the critics say

“Zane Grey epitomized the mythical West that should have been…The standout among them is Riders of the Purple Sage.” ( True West)
“Poignant in its emotional qualities.” ( New York Times)
“A powerful work, exceedingly well written.” ( Brooklyn Eagle)

What listeners say about Riders of the Purple Sage

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Profile Image for Langer MD

Meantime.. Back At The Ranch

The Western stereotypes and tropes just keep coming in this novel: Rustlers & Horse Thieves, Indian villages, wondrous skill on horseback, gunfights with dastardly bad-guys in black, the obligatory pretty damsel-in-distress (TWO of them, actually)..  Small wonder this book is considered Zane Grey's seminal work: the influences on future literary & Hollywood portrayals of "life on the back 40" are undeniable. Grey's imagery is often offputtingly "artistic" but his vocabulary/prose is creditable, the dialogue is realistic, and the descriptions are unparalleled - if you give this book a try, you are listening to a true master of the genre.
This book does, indeed, play up the more bigoted aspects of the Mormon religion in order to characterize the villain.. but I didn't find it over-the-top ('Elder Tull' is merely cartoonish). It seems to me that the actions of publishers to rein in & edit this novel are understandable ("we need to sell to Utahns, too, after all") but nonsensical.
(Note: I haven't read the "adjusted" version - I actually wonder what they changed..)


Mark Bramhall's brilliant reading clearly adds to the enjoyability of this book. His diction, cadence, and pacing are remarkable, for example. It's Bramhall's incredible timbre, tone, and voice-acting that bring this story to life, however: listeners can almost see the plains & coulees with the mind's-eye.. and could easily imagine a grizzled cowboy relating the story over a campfire under the open sky.

Altogether, I rate this 'Plus' offering 9 out of 10 stars. The book has some ludicrous "Soap-opera"-styled "shock" revelations and there are some flowery scenes & eyerolling clichés, but 'Riders of the Purple Sage' provided undeniable entertainment over a few quiet afternoons. Even were they to ask for a Credit, you would do right to spend it.

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