Why read True West?

Book cover of True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America

Book description

“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.…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked True West as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A.J.Otjen

Author

The insight into the politics and history of the west.

From A.J.Otjen's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Craig Lancaster

Author

Here, I veer off into nonfiction, but only because nobody would believe any novelist who conjured up the likes of the real-life people Betsy Gaines Quammen talks to in constructing this portrait of how things got so fraught out West.

In my view, it takes a writer of particular skill and empathy to honestly get at the thoughts and motivations of folks with whom she likely disagrees on fundamental questions. Further, it takes a writer of inherent fairness to call balls and strikes on all sides of contentious issues. Quammen, for my money, is such a writer.

From Craig's list on The best books featuring characters navigating the contemporary American West.