The fourteen stories in this collection are set in the sometimes magical, sometimes brutal Southwest: a multi-ethnic, contemporary West that encourages the reader to see beyond the stereotypes of the Old West. All of the stories depict the emotional and psychological costs of the prejudices and injustices of the Old West that have carried over into the present. Gish’s vivid storytelling utilizes compelling voices and gritty characters, tracing the recognition of remnant violence, racism, sexism, and environmental pollution carried over from earlier generations. Cutting through class and ethnicity, each story illustrates how a land and its history both determine and are determined by the people who live there.

Robert F. Gish is the author of nearly twenty works of fiction, memoir, folktales, literary biographies and numerous monographs and essays on the literature, history, and culture of the American Southwest. His short story collections include Bad Boys and Black Sheep: Fateful Tales From the West (1996) and First Horses: Stories of the New West (1993). He taught at the University of Northern Iowa from 1967-1991, where he was University Distinguished Scholar and Professor of English. He served as Director of Ethnic Studies and Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo from 1991-2001. He holds B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English and American Studies from the University of New Mexico. He is the recipient of the Erna Fergusson Distinguished Alumni Award from UNM. Of Cherokee-Anglo American descent, Gish is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Pen West, the Authors Guild, and the Screen Actors Guild. He lives with his wife, Judith, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gish and his wife are the parents of three children and have five grandchildren. He is a jazz guitarist and vocalist by avocation. Please visit his website:www.robertfgish.com.