The real American West is more amazing, outlandish, romantic, extravagant & fascinating than the myth. Compiled of words brought into English from Native Americans, emigrants, Mormons, Hispanics, migrant workers, loggers, and fur trappers, the dictionary opens up history and culture in an enchanting way.
This treasury of the American west will tell you how to spell, pronounce, and define over 5,000 terms relative to the American West from “Aarigaa!” to “zopilote.”
Reviews
“There has never been anything like this enchanting book. It is inconceivable that anyone with the faintest interest in the West, in its history, facts and fables, idioms and mores, can ever again be without this exhaustive bible of the West.” — Alistair Cooke
“At last, language lovers, Win Blevins has given us an up-to-date dictionary of the American language as it has evolved west of the 100th Meridian, including those rich contributions from the western tribes and the Spanish pioneers. Here is a valuable book, a treasure in any literate American’s library.” — Tony Hillerman
“A dictionary like no other. Not only essential for readers and writers of Western Americana, but interesting enough to read from A to Z.” — Dee Brown, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee
“Blevins’s work incorporates the language of various Western professions, such as logging and mining, as well as ethnic groups, such as Mormons and Native Americans. Geographically, it ranges from the Klondike to the Southwest. In addition, the words included date from the history of the West to modern bureaucratic phraseology, with cross references, sources, and a pronunciation guide. Recommended for both reference and general entertainment collections.” —Daniel Liestman, Seattle Pacific Univ. Lib. — Library Journal