Lone Star (Paperback)

Alison Fields

ISBN 10: 0826369391 / ISBN 13: 9780826369390

Published by University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. A deft history and analysis of John Sayles 1996 cinematic masterpiece. Alison Fields places Lone Star in a western film framework and emphasizes Lone Star's ability to highlight the conflicts between socially entrenched borderlands history and its multifaceted reality.Filmmaker John Sayles has been a key voice in independent cinema since the 1970s, interrogating American legends by retelling stories about class, race, labor, sexuality, history, and violence. Lone Star, released in 1996, was ahead of its time in exploring the prevailing legends of the Borderlands through the intersectionality of Black, Chicano, and womens narratives. Set in the fictional small town of Frontera on the Texas/Mexico border, the film opens with the discovery of a decades-old skeleton on a rifle rangethe remains of racist and corrupt former sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson). It had long been presumed that Wade was driven from town by Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey), who succeeded him for a long tenure as Fronteras beloved sheriff. The discovery of Wades remains prompts current sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper), who had always lived in his fathers shadow, to question Buddys legacy and his involvement in Wades death and to look to the testimonies of the poor, the dispossessed, and the overlookedthe very people the late Sheriff Wade had victimized. In the first book-length examination of Lone Star, Fields situates the film firmly in the new Western history that has done so much to overturn the century-old Frontier Thesis. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780826369390

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Lone Star (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0826369391
• ISBN 13: 9780826369390
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A deft history and analysis of John Sayles’ 1996 cinematic masterpiece. Alison Fields places Lone Star in a western film framework and emphasizes Lone Star's ability to highlight the conflicts between socially entrenched borderlands history and its multifaceted reality.

Filmmaker John Sayles has been a key voice in independent cinema since the 1970s, interrogating American legends by retelling stories about class, race, labor, sexuality, history, and violence.

Lone Star, released in 1996, was ahead of its time in exploring the prevailing legends of the Borderlands through the intersectionality of Black, Chicano, and women’s narratives. Set in the fictional small town of Frontera on the Texas/Mexico border, the film opens with the discovery of a decades-old skeleton on a rifle range—the remains of racist and corrupt former sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson). It had long been presumed that Wade was driven from town by Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey), who succeeded him for a long tenure as Frontera’s beloved sheriff. The discovery of Wade’s remains prompts current sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper), who had always lived in his father’s shadow, to question Buddy’s legacy and his involvement in Wade’s death and to look to the testimonies of the poor, the dispossessed, and the overlookedthe very people the late Sheriff Wade had victimized.

In the first book-length examination of Lone Star, Fields situates the film firmly in the “new Western history” that has done so much to overturn the century-old Frontier Thesis.

About the Author

Alison Fields is the acting director of the School of Visual Arts at the University of Oklahoma. She is the Mary Lou Milner Carver Professor of Art of the American West, a professor of art history, and the author or coeditor of four books, including Discordant Memories: Atomic Age Narratives and Visual Culture.