The writings of Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) make him a major figure in American literature. These essays by some of the foremost commentators writing on the West today constitute the first attempt since his death to assess the diversity of Stegner's contributions to American intellectual life. The essayists engage his novels, short stories, memoirs, and biographies; the intersection between Stegner's fiction and history; and his role as an environmental essayist.

These interpretive pieces are preceded by more personal accounts by his son Page Stegner, former students James R. Hepworth and Wendell Berry, and writers William Kittredge and Ivan Doig.

1. They identify several themes that pervade Stegner's life and work - a search for continuity between past and present, hope and optimism about the future, and an attempt to foster for the West, as Stegner put it, "a society to match its scenery."