A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American West presents a series of essays that explore the historic and contemporary cultural expressions rooted in America's western states. * Offers a comprehensive approach to the wide range of cultural expressions originating in the west * Focuses on the intersections, complexities, and challenges found within and between the different historical and cultural groups that define the west's various distinctive regions * Addresses traditionally familiar icons and ideas about the west (such as cowboys, wide-open spaces, and violence) and their intersections with urbanization and other regional complexities * Features essays written by many of the leading scholars in western American cultural studies