Monument Valley or Once Upon a Time at the Movies

The Last Picture ShowDuring the late 1960s, three men met in Monument Valley, the heart, soul, and brain of our vast southwest. One was John Ford, an aging director who over the past half-century had created the greatest body of cinematic work dealing with the frontier experience; i.e., ’westing.’ His hope was to create one final epic that would serve as an epilogue to all he’d done before, thereby setting his legacy in perspective. Joining him, as he had many times before, was John Wayne, who largely thanks to Ford had become the greatest symbol of The Cowboy in Hollywood history. Only he knew a bitter truth: ’The Duke’ was in the process of dying from an inoperable cancer. So this would be his last hurrah as well, and this opportunity meant more to him than such a proud, stoic man was willing to admit. This must be his greatest single performance so that he might 'enter his house justified.' Accompanying them was a younger man, Peter Bogdanovich, who had made a reputation as a film historian, by writing an analysis of Ford’s films. He had come to make a documentary about this last round-up of such major players in our country’s most unique genre: The Western.They came to make a movie. In fact, what they created together would become the great American myth.MONUMENT VALLEY, while borrowing key elements of that once in a lifetime historical moment, is as much a legend as were any of Ford’s films: A roman-a-clef that freely mixes fact and fiction. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and, in truth, the guilty. For the author, this novel allows for an autobiographical piece of the sort he was waited many decades to commit to print. 'Sometimes the truth,' an old sage once said, 'is so hard to believe that we need an element of fantasy to make it ring true.' That served as this narrative’s aesthetic as well as the writer’s mantra.DOUGLAS BRODE is a novelist, graphic novelist, screenwriter, playwright, multi-award-winning journalist, multi-award-winning university educator, film and popular culture historian, TV talk show host, radio announcer, magazine editor, film and theatre critic, regional theatre actor, and travel writer. He and his wife Sue Anne Johnson Brode currently live in San Antonio, Texas.'Author Doug Brode’s latest book Monument Valley is a monumental ride. The story is a compelling page turner complete with plot twists and turns that guarantee to keep the reader enthralled and guessing what will happen next. And Brode never disappoints. More than once I found myself taking pause at the narrative as another unexpected surprise came out of left field. The well-drawn characters are both real and also fictional representations of famous individuals whom many will be sure to recognize - or try to guess - and that’s part of the book’s enjoyment. I highly recommend Monument Valley for fans of a good mystery and for readers simply looking to immerse themselves in a well-crafted, intriguing tale.'- Stone Wallace, author of 20 books, including Montana Dawn, listed by Booklist as 'One of the Ten Best Westerns of the Decade