A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American West presents an in depth exploration of historic and contemporary cultural expressions rooted in America’s western states. A series of illuminating essays by literary and cultural scholars reveals the complexity of the many wests in our imagination and reality. Contributions explore such topics as women’s frontier narratives, classic westerns of fiction and film, Native-American pride, cowboy poetry, and the L.A. and Seattle music scenes. The Companion offers a fully realized portrait of the depth and complexity of cultural expressions that continue to emerge from the American west.