Obscure Destinies (Willa Cather Scholarly Edition Series) [Hardcover]

Willa Cather (Author), Kari A. Ronning (Author), Frederick M. Link (Author), Mark Kamrath (Author)

Book Description

Series: Willa Cather Scholarly Edition | Publication Date: December 1, 1998

The jacket of the first edition of Obscure Destinies announced “Three New Stories of the West,” heralding Willa Cather’s return to what many thought of as “her” territory—the Great Plains. These three stories, “Neighbour Rosicky,” “Old Mrs. Harris,” and “Two Friends,” reflected her return to the well of memory that had inspired the books that made her reputation.

The Willa Cather Scholarly Edition presents for the first time the three stories in their historical and biographical context, with an interpretive historical essay and detailed explanatory notes. The textual essay and apparatus establish the definitive text and trace Cather’s changes through newly discovered prepublication versions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kari A. Ronning is assistant editor for the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition at the University of Nebraska. Frederick M. Link is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Nebraska and a textual editor of the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition. Mark L. Kamrath is an assistant professor of English at the University of Central Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 460 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press; Scholarly Edition edition (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803214308
• ISBN-13: 978-0803214309
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,718,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neighbour Rosicky, November 4, 2004

By 

C. Conlee (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Obscure Destinies V179 (Paperback)

This collection of three stories--each over fifty pages--contains what I believe is the most emotionally beautiful "short story" ever written: "Neighbour Rosicky".

Here is a story of love, and despair; beauty and tragedy. All life entails suffering, but it is up to us how we handle suffering: we either handle it with dignity or despair; this volume bespeaks of the former. When the crop fails, Rosicky takes his family on a picknick, so they can appreciate what they have, not what they don't. Rosicky--with a bad heart--rakes the Russian thistle from his son's neighboring farm because "he was afraid their seed would root and 'take the alfalfa'". Some call this "silly sentimentalism", but it is not: it is the beauty of appreciating life in the simple things.

Willa Cather, like Shakespeare, is a word-smith for all ages, and will be read--in a thousand years--alongside Homer and his ilk.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short Stories of Willa Cather, June 13, 2009

By 

Bonnie Brody "Book Lover and Knitter" (Port St. Lucie, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Obscure Destinies (Willa Cather Scholarly Edition Series) (Hardcover)

'The Neighbor Rosicky' is a beautiful story of a real person of family life. The
descriptive detail is beautiful yet simple.

'Old Mrs. Smith' is a story of what it is to be an old lady - - her grace, her role
and pride as seen from many angles.

'Two Friends' deals with a strange friendship, strong in its being and strong in
its destruction.