O Pioneers! (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition) - 3067

Willa Cather established her reputation as a writer of extraordinary talent with the publication of O Pioneers!—the first of her books set in Nebraska. In this stirring romance of the Western prairies, the lives of two very different heroines unfold during a time when the wild lands of the frontier broke the spirit of many of America’s hopeful Swedish, Czech, Bohemian, and French immigrant farmers. When Alexandra Bergson inherits the family farm as a young girl, she reveals herself to be as uncommonly determined, enterprising, and capable as she is charismatic. Meanwhile, the relationship between Alexandra’s brother Emil and the beautiful Marie Shabata plays out in what many critics view as some of Cather’s finest writing. Throughout, the land itself emerges as a character that challenges and changes the lives it supports. Cather’s descriptions of the territory and its people evoke a time and place long gone but foundational in forming our national character. This Warbler Classics edition includes key reviews of the first edition and a biographical timeline. Willa Cather (1873–1947) was an American writer best known for her novels of the Plains and for One of Ours, for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1923. She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943 and received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1944. By the time of her death she had written twelve novels, five books of short stories, and a collection of poetry. “She takes such pains to conceal her sophistication that it is easy to miss her quality…[but] we have nothing better than she is.” —Wallace Stevens “A book of uncommon quality.” —The Observer “A gripping story, marked by both power and originality.” —The Boston Globe
ASIN: 1957240776
VSKU: BVV.1957240776.A
Condition: Acceptable
Author/Artist:Cather, Willa
Binding: Paperback