Book Review: True West: Authenticity and the American West

Authors

Ellen Baker, Columbia University

Date of this Version

2006

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY 26:3 (Summer 2006). Copyright © 2006 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Abstract

In the culture of the American West, the term "authenticity" comes close to "frontier" in its ubiquity, resonance, and elusiveness. The fifteen essays in this outstanding collection clarify how authenticity has functioned in cultural and literary settings. Instead of simply distinguishing the "fake" from the "authentic," they explore the nature and consequences of quests for and claims to authenticity. Readers interested in the Great Plains will find rewarding essays on literature, environment, and the uses of American Indian history.