Winner of the National Book Award in Fiction
“It is the autobiographical nature of Stegner’s work . . . that makes it so compelling. In every novel, the narrator has all the gifts of language, empathy, and philosophy, but he nonetheless can never free himself from the torments of the past.” —Jane Smiley, from the Introduction
“Elegant and entertaining . . . every scene [is] adroitly staged and each effect precisely accomplished.” —The Atlantic