Stegner s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of personal, historical, and geographic discovery Confined to a wheelchair, retired historian Lyman Ward sets out to write his grandparents' remarkable story, chronicling their days spent carving civilization into the surface of America's western frontier. But his research reveals even more about his own life than he's willing to admit. What emerges is an enthralling portrait of four generations in the life of an American family. "Cause for celebration . . . A superb novel with an amplitude of scale and richness of detail altogether uncommon in contemporary fiction." "The Atlantic Monthly" "Brilliant . . . Two stories, past and present, merge to produce what important fiction must: a sense of the enchantment of life." "Los Angeles Times" This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by Jackson J. Benson. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
Amazing in its structure, complexity, span of time and place, illustration of what it means to be truly disappointed - a cautionary tale about creativity, friendships and other relationships, hope and pioneering. (And yet, I loathed Susan Ward from almost the beginning. Why ideal Augusta would remain friends/pen pals with Susan all those years remains a mystery to me.)
