When Riders of the Purple Sage was published in 1912, it was heavily edited. Blackstone Audio here presents the original, uncensored novel exactly as Zane Grey wrote it, obtained through the Golden West Literary Agency with the cooperation of Zane Grey's son, Loren Grey, and the Ohio State Historical Society. 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.
