Readers who have followed the long path of Elmore Leonard know that when he was starting out in the 1950s, still with his hand in advertising copywriting, he wrote short stories and Westerns.

In "When the Women Come Out to Dance," his 39th publication, he comes back to both, though in the case of Westerns, not exclusively. Strictly, that description applies only to "The Tonto Woman," which tells of a character kidnapped and tattooed by Indians and banished by her husband to an isolated hut when she is returned a dozen years later.

But "Hurrah for Captain Early," about a black soldier's return to discrimination after fighting with valor in the Spanish-American War, is also set in the Southwest. And "Tenkiller," though set in modern-day Oklahoma, has plenty of Wild West bravado.

"Tenkiller" is the longest of the nine tales and one of only two appearing for the first time in this collection. It is the story of Ben Walker, and it is genuine Leonard in miniature: An Okie makes his way in the world, first as a rodeo champ and then as a Hollywood stuntman. He's not pure - but he's good - and he's known both love and tragedy.

A hallmark of Leonard's recent work has been how he salts his stories with pop culture references, which reached a crescendo in "Get Shorty" and its unfortunate sequel, "Be Cool." Though he continues the hip parade throughout this collection, he adds another layer: references to the worlds he has previously wrought.

Walker's story, for example, could be an alternate outcome for Bear, the genial enforcer for a crooked limo-service operator who ultimately befriends Chili Palmer in "Get Shorty." Bear's employer is a black man named Bo Catlett; so is the main character in "Hurrah for Captain Early," as was a cavalryman in "Gunsights," an early Leonard Western.

Raylan Givens, previously of "Pronto" and "Riding the Rap," is a key figure in "Fire in the Hole," in which an old acquaintance reappears as the sort of guy who knows the country's going to hell and is bound to prevent it no matter how much blood must be shed.

And Karen Sisco, the federal agent in "Out of Sight" (portrayed by Jennifer Lopez in the 1998 movie), returns in "Karen Makes Out," in which she falls for a bad guy, again.

Leonard explores another kind of literary recycling in "Chickasaw Charlie Hoak," in which he takes a minor character from "Tishomingo Blues" and makes the story all about him. Guys like Hoak - who is amusingly, annoyingly stuck on the questionable glory attached to having pitched, once, in the Major Leagues - have long been part of Leonard's rich fabric. By developing him into a main character, Leonard shows that every time he sits down with pen and pad, he could go down countless paths. That fact is sometimes lost in his incredibly credible stories, which often seem reported rather than created.

The most unexpected treat of the collection is "Hanging Out at the Buena Vista," a five-page tour de force that is, simultaneously, Leonard most typical and Leonard most unlikely. To the former point, the plot is carried almost entirely by dialogue, with a quote in almost every paragraph. Leonard often speaks of wanting not to intrude on the story, of wanting his characters to do the work, and rarely has the technique been more refined. Of course, it doesn't prevent Leonard from sharing his sharp observations, such as when the character Vincent opines that "a woman can get away with a good [hairpiece]. But you see a rug on a guy, every hair in place? You can always tell." And Vincent again, a couple of paragraphs later, on the health of health care workers: "Some are okay, but they all have big butts. You notice that? Hospitals, the same thing. I've made a study: The majority of women who work in health care are seriously overweight."

So what's different about this one? There are only the two characters, Vincent and Natalie, and neither is a villain. There's no hint of crime or a checkered past - just two old folks in a trailer park, looking for companionship as they await their end by cancer.

Could it be that even as he revisits old friends and old haunts, Leonard is about to embark on an entirely new path? Almost certainly not, but it does show that Leonard, even well into his 70s, is capable of anything, and of anything new.