Wallace Stegner's West — Wallace Stegner

A collection as broad as the Great Basin and as dynamic as California s coastline fiction and essays by Wallace Stegner Literary critic Charles E. Cascio compared reading Wallace Stegner s short fiction to entering a great community, one that invites readers into a larger conversation, not through soaring prose or gimmicky plots, but with writing that is as real as the moment and as enduring as history. In his nonfiction Stegner explores with equal skill the myth of the West, the region s past and future, and its realities. Los Angeles Times critic Scott Timberg recently wrote that Stegner shifted the center of gravity of the American literary world. The West was not simply a source of inspiration to Stegner but a state of mind a revelatory concept to many people, particularly to fledging writers. In addition, Stegner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and director and founder of Stanford University s creative writing program, influenced many writers: Wendell Berry, Edward Abbey, Ken Kesey, Larry McMurtry, James D. Houston, and many more. In this selection assembled by his son Page, Stegner a brilliant observer and a master of language ranges with ease from John Wesley Powell s historic, hair-raising adventures on the Colorado River to the wry observations of a fictional modern-day curmudgeon on the West Coast. This collection is simply a joy to read and an essential addition to any library on either side of the Mississippi.