Kirjahaku

Author of The Big Sky series, The Way West, and the screenplay for the classic film Shane, among other timeless stories of frontier mountain men, icon of Western literature A. B. "Bud" Guthrie Jr. brought blazing realism to the story of the West. That realism, which astounded and even shocked some readers, came out of the depth of Guthrie's historical research and an acuity that had seldom been seen in the work of Western novelists. In Under the Big Sky Jackson J. Benson details the life and work of this true giant on the Western literary landscape.Benson illuminates the critical details of Guthrie's upbringing and education, the influence his intellectually inclined father had on him, his work as a newspaperman in Kentucky, and his time at Harvard University. Animated by the observations of friends, family, and fellow authors, this intimate account offers rare insight into the life and work of a remarkable writer and into the making of the literary West.

In a career spanning more than fifty years, Wallace Stegner (1909–93) emerged as the greatest contemporary author of the American West—writing more than two dozen works of history, biography, essays, and fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angle of Repose and the bestselling Crossing to Safety. Jackson J. Benson's Wallace Stegner: His Life and Work is the first full-dress biography of this celebrated "Dean of Western Writers."Drawing on nearly ten years of research and unlimited access to Stegner's letters and personal files, Benson traces the trajectory of Wallace Stegner's life from his birth on his grandfather's Iowa farm to his prominence as an award-winning writer, critic, historian, environmental activist, and teacher, and as founder of Stanford's creative writing program.But Benson's book is as much a consideration of Stegner's literary legacy as it is a retelling of his life. His critical reassessment of the entire body of Stegner's work argues convincingly for his subject's place in the literary canon—not merely as a "regional" Western writer but straightforwardly as one of the great American writers of the twentieth century.

Author of The Big Sky series, The Way West, and the screenplay for the classic film Shane, among other timeless stories of frontier mountain men, icon of Western literature A. B. "Bud" Guthrie Jr. brought blazing realism to the story of the West. That realism, which astounded and even shocked some readers, came out of the depth of Guthrie's historical research and an acuity that had seldom been seen in the work of Western novelists. In Under the Big Sky Jackson J. Benson details the life and work of this true giant on the Western literary landscape.Benson illuminates the critical details of Guthrie's upbringing and education, the influence his intellectually inclined father had on him, his work as a newspaperman in Kentucky, and his time at Harvard University. Animated by the observations of friends, family, and fellow authors, this intimate account offers rare insight into the life and work of a remarkable writer and into the making of the literary West.

In 1968, Jackson J. Benson, then a naive young literature professor, set out to write a critical appraisal of John Steinbeck. He found his project turning into an authorized biography: this is an account of his experiences over the 15 years he devoted to writing it. On one level it is a collection of anecdotes, character sketches and memories of Steinbeck. Benson interviewed scores of people who knew Steinbeck at various times in his life, and read thousands of primary sources. On another level it is an account of the biographers task, with allist triumphs and frustrations. We follow Benson as he struggles to master the skills of the biographer: locating sources of information; learning to conduct interviews - and assess their validity; and sifting through all the contradictions and prejudices.