About the Book
The Great Plains are as rich and integral a part of American literature as they are of the North American landscape. In this volume the stories, poems, and essays that have described, celebrated, and defined the region evoke the world of the American prairie from the first recorded days of Native history to the realities of life on a present-day reservation, from the arrival of European explorers to the experience of early settlers, from the splendor of the vast and rolling grasslands to the devastation of the Dust Bowl. Several essays look to the future and explore changes that could enable people to continue to live in this place they have learned to value in spite of its persistent challenges. The infinite variety of the Great Plains landscape and its people unfolds in works by writers as diverse as Willa Cather, Loren Eiseley, Louise Erdrich (Ojibwe), Diane Glancy (Cherokee), Langston Hughes, Wes Jackson, Garrison Keillor, William Least Heat-Moon, Kathleen Norris, Wright Morris, Francis Parkman, O. E. Rlvaag, Mari Sandoz, William Stafford, Mark Twain, Douglas Unger, James Welch (Blackfeet), and Canadians Sharon Butala and Sinclair Ross.
From tribal histories to the impressions of travelers today, from tales of isolation and natures furious storms to accounts of efforts to build communities, from flights of fancy to nuanced observations of the ecology of the grasslands, this comprehensive volume provides a history of the intricate relationships of land and people in the Great Plains. Diane D. Quantic is an associate professor of English and the coordinator of Great Plains studies at Wichita State University. She is the author of The Nature of the Place: A Study of Great Plains Fiction (Nebraska 1995). P. Jane Hafen (Taos Pueblo) is an associate professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is the editor of Zitkala-Sas Dreams and Thunder: Stories, and The Sun Dance Opera (Nebraska 2001).
About the Author :
Diane D. Quantic is an associate professor of English and the coordinator of Great Plains studies at Wichita State University. She is the author of The Nature of the Place: A Study of Great Plains Fiction (Nebraska 1995). P. Jane Hafen (Taos Pueblo) is an associate professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is the editor of Zitkala-Sa's Dreams and Thunder: Stories, Poems, and "The Sun Dance Opera" (Nebraska 2001).
Review :
"The land of linear horizons, the Great Plains summon imagination from any writer who would set a poem, novel, or essay in them. From the explorers, settlers, and Native Americans who have done so, the editors anchor this anthology with famous scriveners such as James Fenimore Cooper, Willa Cather, and Louise Erdrich, as well as a wealth of authors far less famed... This treasury contains more than 100 excerpted selections. Well worth a library's consideration."-Booklist Booklist "One of the great features of this work is that one does not need to read the entire book to get a flavor for the rich and infinite variety of the people and landscape that make the Great Plains a truly unique experience and place. You can turn to virtually any story, essay, or poem and immediately become immersed into a region that has been praised and cussed from the arrival of European explorers and settlers to present day inhabitants."-Mike Nobles, The Oklahoma Observer -- Mike Nobles The Oklahoma Observer "Here is a delightful potpourri of poems, essays, excerpts from longer works and short stories about the Great Plains."-Phaedra Greenwood, The Santa Fe New Mexican The Santa Fe New Mexican "The collection is a fine introduction to a misunderstood place that still inspires reflection."-Kenneth E. Hada, Journal of the West Journal of the West "A marvelous collection of prose and poetry, fiction and non-fiction reflecting varied responses to the land and its inhabitants... Yet like the blow-out penstemon, the text contains equally beautiful works that might otherwise go unnoticed by the student for whom this collection serves as an introduction to Plains literature and can also be appreciated by a more seasoned, native reader... [A Great Plains Reader] introduces its audience to a complex ecosystem, a rich narrative tradition and history, and an evolving physical and psychological landscape. But they also create a subject-a Great Plains reader-who will want not only to absorb the readings that object contains, but also to be challenged anew in thinking about the ways the land and writing about the land shape who we are."-Philip R. Coleman-Hull, Great Plains Quarterly -- Philip R. Coleman-Hull Great Plains Quarterly "Informing, revealing, confirming, infuriating, and always holding our interest, this anthology is a masterful fusion of history and myth."-Ed Imhoff, Virginia Quarterly Review -- Ed Imhoff Virginia Quarterly Review "The editor's wide range of selections helps us understand that the whole truth of the region has not been told... The general reader who knows little or nothing about the Plains will discover the region's complexity by reading the selections, and those who know the subject from experience or study will discover a wide range of insights and subjects for further investigation."-Robert L. Berner, Western American Literature -- Robert L. Berner Western American Literature
