Wallace Stegner's unsettled country : ruin, realism, and possibility in the American West / edited by Mark Fiege, Leisl Carr Childers, and Michael J. Lansing.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Fiege, Mark (Mark T.), editor.

Carr Childers, Leisl, editor.

Lansing, Michael, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stegner, Wallace, 1909-1993--Criticism and interpretation.

Stegner, Wallace.

Western stories--History and criticism.

Western stories.

West (U.S.)--In literature.

West (U.S.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 322 pages) : illustrations (some color), color maps

Place of Publication:

Lincoln, Nebraska : University of Nebraska Press, [2024]

Summary:

This collection shows that Wallace Stegner's work, however flawed, remains a useful tool for assessing the past, present, and future of the American West.

"Wallace Stegner is an iconic western writer. His works, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angle of Repose and Big Rock Candy Mountain, as well as his nonfiction books and essays introduced the beauty and character of the American West to thousands of readers. Wallace Stegner's Unsettled Country assesses his life, work, and legacy in light of contemporary issues and crises. Along with Stegner's achievements, the contributors show how his failures offer equally crucial ways to assess the past, present, and future of the region. Drawing from history, literature, philosophy, law, geography, and park management, the contributors consider Stegner's racial liberalism and regional vision, his gendered view of the world, his understandings of conservation and the environment, his personal experience of economic collapse and poverty, his yearning for community, and his abiding attachment to the West. Wallace Stegner's Unsettled Country is an even-handed reclamation of Stegner's enduring relevance to anyone concerned about the American West's uncertain future. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Prologue : Wallace Stegner in his time and in ours / Mark Fiege, Michael J. Lansing, and Leisl Carr Childers

Openings. Wallace Stegner's unsettled country : ruin, realism, and possibility in the American West / Mark Fiege

Ruin. The American West as exploited space : from one nation to poston / Alexandra Hernandez

Creation as erasure : Wallace Stegner and the making and unmaking of regions / Michael J. Lansing

Exploits against the effete : Wallace Stegner and Bernard DeVoto, men of Western letters / Flannery Burke

Returning to the best idea we ever had / Michael Childers

Realism. The legacies of Wallace Stegner and the Stegner fellowships in a changing American West / Nancy S. Cook

Sludge in the cup : Wallace Stegner's philosophical legacy and the hard job ahead / Michael A. Brown

Hope in public lands : a conversation / Leisl Carr Childers and Adam M. Sowards

Possibility. The education of Wallace Stegner / Melody Graulich

Revisiting "The marks of human passage" : lessons from the dinosaur and Bears Ears National Monument controversies / Robert B. Keiter

The geography of hope in an age of uncertainty / Paul Formisano

The American West as unlivable space : hope, despair, and adaptation in an era of climate chaos / Robert M. Wilson

Epilogue : richer for this sorrow / Mark Fiege, Michael J. Lansing, and Leisl Carr Childers.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Fiege, Mark Wallace Stegner's Unsettled Country

ISBN:

1496238389

781496238375

9781496238382