Where does a novel really begin? Does it start on the first page, or is there some earlier point of beginning in the story that is the true point of beginning? How far back in history might we go, looking for where stories begin? What is the real "origin" of narrative? Writing the Modern American West provides substantial interpretations of a number of works of the American West that investigate the idea of the origin. The book advocates the value of its individual works as depictions of the modern West, and the importance of the concept of origins to interpretation more generally.