SO FAR FROM HEAVEN

. . . right on the solid if dirt-poor ground of New Mexico, this second (Red Sky at Morning, 1968) disarming novel deals with the conflict between Anglos and nativos. Bradford, you will remember, has a nice, natural talent with more of a kick than Coors Beer, the ""vin ordinaire of the Southwest."" Helping it along is one Cruz Tayofa, a retired doctor still running a clinic for his people (clap); he's a self-styled ""Mexican bandit"" and a rich man who has been carrying on a longstanding fight against the biggest Anglo in the vicinity -- one of those new Southern rim conglomerate moneymen (oil, natural gas, land) who might be funding the Republican Party. Then there's his brother, now the milder-mannered Governor of the state, and a lesser one Carlos, likely to end up in the juzgado, and his daughter Lupe, an activist-teacher who devotes some of her attention to the young man Cruz takes on and in. You'll be in brand new territory (politics or penicillin in a pickup truck) where Bradford's easygoing, engaging, and above all independent spirit ranges unconfined.