Overview

"""True West disentangles reality from centuries of myth and mystique.""--HAMPTON SIDES, New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder From the Northern Rockies to the Southwest deserts, Betsy Gaines Quammen explores how myths shape our identities, heighten polarizations, and fracture our shared understanding of the world around us. As she investigates the origins and effects of myths of the American West, Gaines Quammen travels through small towns and big cities, engaging people and building relationships at every stop. Misperceptions about land, politics, liberty, and self-determination threaten the well-being of people and communities across the country, and Gaines Quammen interrogates it all as she seeks to reconcile the anger and misunderstandings that continue to be fueled by the West's enduring myths and complex history. Whether sitting down with a local resident seeking to protect his rural Utah town from Antifa or talking with grassroots organizers working across ideological divides, Gaines Quammen brings to life connections and contradictions that shape our politics and our lives far beyond the West."

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9781948814911

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Reviews

"""At its heart, True West is a great story about Americans whose identities have been flattened into stereotypes. This book corrects the myths and gives readers a reason to care about the West beyond the tired old caricatures of cowboys.""--KATHLEEN MCLAUGHLIN, author of Blood Money ""At once beautiful, engaging, and disturbing, True West is a revealing mirror to the place us westerners call home.""--RYAN BUSSE, author of Gunfight ""Betsy Gaines Quammen has an uncanny ability to boldly cross any divide, literal or metaphorical, with grace and an intention to learn and understand, building rapport and inviting conversation, which we as humans so desperately need.""--JEN HILLEBRANDT, Townie Books ""News out of the American West can often leave one wondering, 'What the hell are they thinking?' Betsy Gaines Quammen explains in this even-handed, impeccably sourced book. A political and intellectual page-turner.""--TIM CAHILL, author of Jaguars Ripped My Flesh ""People think they 'know' the West but they're usually wrong. That's because there's no region of our country more steeped in fallacy, fake news, and fable. Betsy Gaines Quammen, a wry and wise observer, takes us on a ride across the modern West--and along the way, disentangles reality from centuries of myth and mystique.""--HAMPTON SIDES, New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder ""The manuscript hit many of my soft places; it actually hurt to read it--good kind of hurt. The fluency and gracefulness of her writing kept me turning pages. It's often important for a writer to be likable, and with subject matter like this, I think it's crucial--and she is an immensely likable writer.""--DON SNOW, editor of Northern Lights Magazine ""There are few people as savvy as Betsy Gaines Quammen when it comes to comprehending the nuance and contradictions prevalent in this so-called American West.""--CHRIS LA TRAY, author of One-Sentence Journal"

Author Information

Betsy Gaines Quammen is a historian and writer who examines the intersections of extremism, public lands, wildlife, and western communities. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, New York Daily News, and the History News Network. She received a PhD in history from Montana State University and an MS in environmental studies from University of Montana. Betsy is the author of American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Public Lands in the West and lives in Bozeman, Montana, with her husband, writer David Quammen.

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