My Ántonia - (Willa Cather Scholarly Edition) by Willa Cather (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Hailed by reviewers and readers for its originality, vitality, and truth, My Ántonia secured Willa Cather's place in the first rank of American writers. Cather drew deeply on her childhood days in frontier Nebraska for her fourth novel, published in 1918. Ántonia Shimerda is memorable as the warm-hearted daughter of Bohemians who must adapt to a hard life on the desolate prairie. She survives and matures, a pioneer woman made radiant by spirit.

This Willa Cather Scholarly Edition of My Ántonia is edited according to standards set by the Committee for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association and it presents the full range of biographical, historical, and textual information on the novel. The selection of W. T. Benda's illustrations and the historical photography and maps also illuminate the fiction of a writer who drew so extensively on actual experience.

From the Back Cover

An enduring literary masterpiece first published in 1918, this hauntingly eloquent classic is an inspiring reminder of the rich past we have inherited. Willa Cather's lustrous prose, infused with a passion for the land, summons forth the hardscrabble days of the immigrant pioneer woman on the Nebraska plains, while etching a deeply moving portrait of an entire community. As Jim Burden revisits his childhood friendship with the free-spirited Antonia Shimerda, we come to understand the sheer fortitude of homesteaders on the prairie, the steadfast bonds cultivated there, and the abiding memories that such vast expanses inspire. Holding the pastoral society's heart, of course, is the bewitching Antonia, whose unfailing industry and infectious enthusiasm for life exemplify the triumphant vitality of an era.

Review Quotes

"A distilled, high-level course in Cather."--Western American Literature

"The arrival of a definitive text . . . does timely service. Handsomely printed, and replete with textual notes and James Woodress's assiduous history of the novel's composition and reception, it gives My Ántonia due scholarly format."--Review of English Studies

About the Author

Kari A. Ronning is assistant editor of the Cather Scholarly Edition. Charles Mignon is professor emeritus of English at the University of Nebraska. James Woodress is the author of Willa Cather: A Literary Life and the editor of Willa Cather's The Troll Garden, both available from the University of Nebraska Press.