Oh the west...

Loved this piece about Wallace Stegner in the Times - http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/stegners-complaint/?em. I love love love Wallace Stegner's work (when forced to pick a favorite book, I usually choose Angle of Repose) and as a westerner who has twice voluntarily transplanted herself east, I can attest to the fact that some folks out here really think the country stops just a little west of the tristate area. Forget the Mississippi. Even Cali with its gajillion electoral votes hardly gets the 'spect it deserves (tho lately, really, does it deserve any respect? does it even still exist? barely, but thankfully, yes. but i digress). So, read some Stegner. Crossing to Safety is excellent, Big Rock Candy Mountain a phenomenal epic. Even his personal letters are fascinating (turns out he was hilarious). I try not to read too many of his books because I'm afraid I'll run out, but given that he wrote 35, perhaps I can read a few more each year and know there are more to come. Hope Smaldita enjoys being read to about the wide open spaces this summer.