New book by Aliza S. Wong out now.
This one is on my to-get list. Looking through the preview pages on Google Books, it seems like an encyclopedic listing for a good cross section of films, with historical context and a full summary of each, and a nice scholarly bibliography at the end. I wish I could see previews of the later pages where she covers broader topics like Almeria and Cinecitta.
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AKA “Spaghetti Westerns: A Wealthy Person’s Guide” 
Why is it so much cheaper (not that it is at all cheap) in USD than GBP or EUR? To quote my comments from another thread
So a non-academic style with a decidedly academic price tag. Curious.
Just glancing through the sample, it looks like it will be a good read. Having said that I’m a little surprised by the vast majority of the sources appearing to be in English given the nature of the films under discussion and the fact that the author is an academic.
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The price is a major off put … not that I was ever a potential customer - but what can another book on SWs possibly offer fans (and in many cases experts) ? And surely no casually interested beginner is going to spend 100 in any currency !
Does the author get her doctorate for putting this out in the world? … and is there any explanation for the ridiculously high cost?
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Insanity. A new book with this price tag should come in hard binding done by hand from a specialty press. The only other books with this kind of price are academic releases as mentioned, and those are never bought since interested parties just get from libraries…
And only 266 pages, pretty small book
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Looking through the previews, and seeing how the author presents it, I would class this a hybrid of academic text and reference book. Likely the publisher sees a primary market of libraries for this and priced accordingly.
The author already has her doctorate, but is at the Associate Professor level, so likely needs publications to be promoted to full.
Just seems like a very strange subject to be publishing for this purpose…
Author Lee Broughton who wrote EURO-WESTERN, Reframing Gender, Race and the Other in Film and CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE WESTERN, two books that are similarly priced as the Wong book recently acknowledged on a social media site everything you guys have written here that these books are written mostly for academic purposes, college libraries, etc…They are paid for by universities for use over and over in these libraries, so one book will get a lot of mileage, thus the expensive cost per book. These are not meant for summer reading on the beach. I would love to get them but only if I can find a used copy marked WAY down from the cover price.
Make use of your local library’s interlibrary loan system to read a copy!
Just to be clear, I wrote the following answer in response to this comment about my books: “their price range is just way out of my league. Any chance on releasing your books in softcover down the road?”
Answer: “It is frustrating because the books were written to be read by people who appreciate the films but the pricing (which is out of my control) is seemingly geared towards a business model based on sales to libraries. It is ultimately up to the publishers whether cheaper priced paperbacks appear at some point in the future but I hope that they do.”
I can’t comment on the intentions or motivations of other authors or what libraries might choose to do with the books that they purchase but I would state that my books actually are “meant for summer reading on the beach” if that’s where you enjoy doing your reading. They are definitely not “written mostly for academic purposes, college libraries, etc…” even if that’s the market that the publishers have chosen to place them in.
Sorry if I misquoted you Trinity. When I get your books I will definitely make it a point to bring them to the beach.
Five years later, no paperback edition, and the hardback is still far too expensive. Has anyone here on the forum read it? Parts of it can be found on Google Books.
Would be interesting to hear some more opinions. In the meantime, this book’s entry in the database has been updated to the new layout.
I can tell you a little bit about the book, “Spaghetti Westerns, A Viewer’s Guide” by Aliza S. Wong. I do not own the book but I was able to borrow it from the library network my town’s public library belongs to.
The author is an associate professor of history specializing in modern Italian history.
Within the book’s introduction the author says that the book is not a comprehensive listing of spaghetti westerns but a “viewer’s introduction” providing a sampling of significant films, actors, and directors. That there are scholars and fans of spaghetti westerns that have created catalogs or databases of these films and this book instead presents the genre in its cultural context. The author seems to be implying that she is not an expert in SW but in Italian Studies.
It appears that the book was written as a possible textbook for a elective course in Italian Studies. The book is an easy read and I would say it is a better introduction to SW that the books by Cox and Hughes. Read Wong’s book first. However the book is way over priced and it really should not be priced more than Cox and Hughes books. I wouldn’t recommend buying the book at its current price or if you’ve read Cox or Hughes or if you’re familiar with the genre.
The book is divided into two sections, “Films” and “Filmmakers”, and 5 Appendixes.
The “Film” section covers 45 movies. All of Hughes Top 20 and 19 of 20 of this sites Top 20 are included, with “Cemetery Without Crosses” instead being included in “Appendix C” maybe because of it’s French influence. Colizzi’s trilogy is included as is “West and Soda”. The films are listed in English alphabetical order averaging a 2.5 page description with no page breaks between entries. Each film has four sections: overview, plot, critical response, and bibliography. The bibliography sections commonly lists books from Cox, Hughes, Fraying, Frilund, and Broughton, and links to various websites, including this one. @scherpschutter is quoted/referenced a small number of times.
The “Filmmaker” section has 34 entries and includes directors, composers, actors, and actresses. The Filmmakers average about 2 pages per entry. Each entry has four sections: overview/film career, contributions to SW, selected list of SW films, and bibliography.
The title of Appendix D is “Spaghetti Westerns by English Title”. The word Selected or Partial should have been part of the title for there are less than 200 films listed. The films are listed alphabetically using the format: English Title, “/“, Italian Tile, year.
The title of Appendix E is “Spaghetti Westerns by Italian Title”. The films are listed alphabetically using the format: Italian Title, “/“, English Tile, year.
Appendixes A-C familiarize the reader with other things relating to SW.
Such as the influence of: Yojimbo, Peckinpah, and Italy’s “Carosello” TV commercials geared towards children.
Also, Spaghetti Western Music, Almeria, Cinecitta, Texas Hollywood, Western Leone, Zapatta Westerns, Django Unchained.
It is a decent introduction that points the reader towards a lot of other books. I believe it is one of a series of books covering different genres.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to post all this! Good to know where it sits in the pantheon of SW books.
Nice!
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