Frank Bergon, a novelist, critic, and essayist who grew up on a ranch in California’s San Joaquin Valley, brings his intimate knowledge of the area and writing talents together in his new book, Two-Buck Chuck & The Marlboro Man: The New Old West (University of Nevada Press, 2019). Bergon’s book is a collection of essays about real-life figures from the American West, a diverse area of ethnicities and lives that straddle the Old West and 21st century realities. Their stories are often unheard and their region of the country often misunderstood. Bergon is a Boston College alumnus who has taught at the University of Washington and Vassar College and is a member of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. His other books include Jesse’s Ghost, Shoshone Mike, and Wild Game.