How I Came West and Why I Stayed Author:Alison Baker With deadpan humor and a straightforward style, Alison Baker creates a slightly off-kilter world with stories that quickly pull us into the hearts and minds of her eccentric and appealing characters. The title story, "How I Came West, and Why I Stayed," begins when the door to a bar in the frozen Rocky Mountains swings open and a traveling stran... more »ger appears: "I'm looking for cheerleaders," she says, and the reader is off on a distinctive and memorable quest.« less