Sandoz Studies, Volume 3 - by Renée M Laegreid (Paperback)

About the Book

Mari Sandoz's grim allegorical novel about fascism, Slogum House, remains as relevant today as when published in 1937. These essays explore the novel's complexity, relatable themes, and timelessness.

Book Synopsis

Mari Sandoz's Slogum House shocked readers with the story of a ruthless Nebraska matriarch determined to enrich herself and her family at any cost. Sandoz drew inspiration from the rise of authoritarianism in 1930s Europe as she penned this cautionary tale of the U.S. West, paying careful attention to how inequality and the arbitrary exercise of power can cause suffering for people, land, and animals.

When first published in 1937 Slogum House faced harsh reviews: Cities and libraries banned it, politicians decried its negative portrayal of frontier life, and readers wrote to Sandoz, chastising her for coarse language and tawdry scenes. But Sandoz's historical knowledge, coupled with her unflinching personal observations, created a work that challenged a complacent and exceptionalist narrative of the region. These multidisciplinary essays reveal how Slogum House unsettled readers and critics and continues to offer lessons for Sandoz's time as well as our own.

Review Quotes

"Mari Sandoz's depiction of tyrannical rule in Slogum House has captivated readers since its publication in 1937. The gracefully executed essays in this volume explain why Slogum House remains a useful way to understand U.S. history nearly a century later."--Benjamin H. Johnson, author of Texas: An American History

"This timely, creative, and compelling collection of essays reclaims Mari Sandoz's often-forgotten insights on authoritarianism. She--and they--have much to teach us."--Michael J. Lansing, coeditor of Wallace Stegner's Unsettled Country: Ruin, Realism, and Possibility in the American West

"Through this vibrant collection, we come to know Mari Sandoz's Slogum House as a prescient novel, flashing forward as a warning and an analysis of the settler-colonial roots of American fascism. This brutal novel reveals much about the fascistic violence undergirding the 'American Dream, ' not only 'how we got here, ' but how we were here all along."--Julie Carr, author of Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West

About the Author

Renée M. Laegreid is Andrew Allen Excellence Fellow in Western History and a professor of history at the University of Wyoming. She is a coeditor of Sandoz Studies, Volume 2: Sandoz and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Nebraska, 2024), bronze winner of the 2025 Will Rogers Medallion for Western nonfiction.