Plains Song: For Female Voices [Paperback]

Wright Morris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1991 | ISBN-10: 0879238356 | ISBN-13: 978-0879238353

Wright Morris (1910-1998) wrote thirty-three books, including The Home Place, also available in a Bison Books edition, and Field of Vision, which won the National Book Award. Charles Baxter is a professor of English at the University of Michigan and the author of numerous works, including The Feast of Love.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This 1981 National Book Award winner links three generations of Midwestern women to a form of unison singing in unmeasured time known as plainsong. "Morris writes compellingly of women, of loneliness and contradictory needs, of the half-submerged life, a plainsong that is all too seldom heard," noted PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Morris snagged a National Book Award for this 1980 novel. LJ's reviewer observed that it "is at once a song of the Plains and plainsong melody which illuminates the beauty and complexity of human life." The plot follows the female members of a family living in Nebraska from the late 1800s to modern times. It remains "rich in sensory detail, controlled in style, and powerful in impact" (LJ 1/1/80).
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: David R Godine Pub (February 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879238356
• ISBN-13: 978-0879238353
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,568,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There goes another one., April 2, 2002

By 

"toomanybooksbooks" (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plains Song: For Female Voices (Paperback)

A fine novel, a masterpiece of concision, considering the breadth of the story. What saddens me is that there are no other Morris novels in print. This one is no better or worse than any of his other wonderful novels, but evidently rates publication because it has the word "female" in the title. His best novel, The Field of Vision, also won the National Book award.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neglected Masterpiece, June 24, 2010

By 

Umberto Rossi (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plains Song: For Female Voices (Paperback)

I do not think you'll ever hear the name of Wright Morris mentioned as one of the major American novelists of the late 20th Century. It is a pity! This is a great novel. Those who say it has no plot do not understand that Morris moved to grasp the pace of life itself, and managed to do it apparently effortlessly--though I see a great mastery of form here, absolutely impressive. When you end up in the years the novel was written, you are almost shocked by the feeling of the passing of years. The saga of this Midwestern family is wholly persuading and poetically told, and leaves permanent traces in one's memory, even though there are almost no remarkable events in the story. But does that really matter? This is a slow novel, but life is slow too. We should be grateful to Wright Morris for having sung his plain song so slowly, and so well.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars somewhat of a muddle, August 28, 2007

By 

Eric Maroney (Trumansburg, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plains Song: For Female Voices (Paperback)

Plains Song is overall a sound novel, but suffers from some structural problems. It is as if Morris could not figure out the overall trajectory of the plot? Who are the central characters of the novel, and what is the overall conflict to be resolved? There are muddled intentions here, and it shows throughout this work. But overall, Wright is a master at detailing life on the Midwestern plains and the pivotal changes encountered by its inhabitants at the turn of the century. This redeems the novel somewhat, and makes it, if not anything, an interesting artifact.