Legends and Tales of the American West (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

Originally published as Tales from the American Frontier in 1991, this collection of the Wild West's equivalent of "urban legends" is a hoot and a holler. Laugh at the tale of "The Young Man Who Wanted to Be Snakebit" (for a shot of whiskey was the local snakebite antidote), shudder at the mention of "The Headless Horseman of the Mother Lode," and marvel at the "hoop snake," a 6-foot-long wonder that can bite its own tail and roll after its prey--although a 15-foot catfish can swallow it whole. These tall tales are rather boisterous and do not always treat the West's Native American and Latino inhabitants with sensitivity--which means, of course, that they accurately capture the spirit of the era.