True West explores myths of the West and how they distort the realities of the present and exacerbate polarizations. Unless America recognizes the dangers of building a national identity on illusion, these misperceptions about land, politics, liberty, and self-determination threaten the well-being of western communities and the country. Betsy Gaines Quammen interrogates it all by listening carefully to people from varying political and cultural perspectives as she seeks to reconcile the deep anger and broad misunderstandings that linger amid myths that define and impede the American West.