Henry Handsome was an outlaw cowboy—at least that's how the legend goes. Henry Handsome Lived & Died examines the creation, evolution, proliferation, dissemination and degradation of American folklore. Through 30 different short stories, the character, vague idea, false memory, misattributed anecdote or influence of the titular Henry Handsome does everything from change the course of American media to sculpt modern day knowledge of manifest destiny. Together, the collection represents the stories that create and define a culture, how those stories are told, if they ever were to begin with—and if any of that matters at all.