THOSE WHO FREQUENT used and rare bookstores in New Mexico may know writer, editor, and publisher Jack Rittenhouse (1912–1991) for the 50 beautifully designed letterpress books he produced at Stagecoach Press—a legendary venture that began with his own 1946 A Guide Book to Highway 66. In Jack Rittenhouse: A Western Literary Life (University of New Mexico Press), David R. Farmer follows Rittenhouse from a mailroom job at Alfred A. Knopf to his tenure as the “Dean of New Mexico Bookdom.” He shaped the state’s literary destiny through crucial stints at the Museum of New Mexico Press and UNM Press, while also churning out Stagecoach titles. We can thank Rittenhouse for many still-in-print Southwest authors to this day, starting with the letter A: Edward Abbey and Mary Austin.