Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Wallace Stegnar
Sorry I am so late to post. I have been trying to decide what author to review. I feel very under qualified. I am not an avid reader as some and so there aren't really a lot of authors I have read more than one of their books or I know very much about. I was asking my sister about it and she gave me this suggestion. So, I have not even read his book-how's that for a disclaimer...Anyway, she read his book "Crossing to Safety," which she found interesting and really liked. It is about two young couples who become friends in college and how they stay friends throughout their lives. One couple comes from a very wealthy background and the other not so much. The book shows the interaction between the two very different lifestyles. It sounds like a great read. The reason she thought of him is because he grew up in Utah. In fact, "while living in Utah, he joined a Boy Scouts troop at a Mormon church (though he was not Mormon but Presbyterian) and earned the Eagle Scout award." He also graduated from the U of U. I know not all of you out there are from Utah but I thought it was kind of exciting. He wrote 2 nonfiction books about the Mormons. He won a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. So, he kind of put us on the map you could say as an author from Utah. Anyway, if any of you are familiar with his writing let us know. It's exciting he is kind of from Utah.
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6 comments:
I have a book of Wallace Stegner's short stories. He lived in Moab for a time Nicole,! and he worked in Arches Natl. Park and other parks around s. eastern utah. One of my favorite stories talks about his distaste for the inconsiderate tourists who come in there metal tubes (old time aluminum campers) and leave behind tourist blossoms (used toilet paper stuck in sage brush). It has been 10 years since I read it, I think I'll pull it out again!
I read "Crossing to Safety" years ago, on the recommendation of fellow Bookworm, Maralise. And, just picked up his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "Angle of Repose" this very day! What a coincidence! This was also recommended by Mara...so Mara, give us your insight into Stegner, huh? :) I didn't know he lived in Utah...
I have read Crossing to Safety and highly recommend it. I also read another of his but it wasn't Angle...I love Stegner's writing style. Thanks for reminding all of us of this wonderful author!
He also taught at the U for a while. I really appreciate Stegner. I've read three of his novels and would recommend them all (Spectator Bird, Crossing to Safety, Angle of Repose). He is a Western writer in the best sense, grasps the possibility and the price of open space and 'open' people...and Angle of Repose is a masterpiece. I guess a compliment I would give him would be that he is builds a character much like a woman would...starting with breakfast in the morning, ending with removing one's shoe in the evening. In other words, the mundane and the extraordinary are included in a magical mixture.
Anyway read anything else by him (Rock Candy Mountain? His non-fiction?)
Should be 'Has anyone...'
It has been years since I read Crossing to Safety, but I really liked it. Apparently, I need to read more from him. Thanks Mara.
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