In a literary career spanning more than fifty years, Wallace Stegner created a remarkable record of the history and culture of twentieth-century America. Each of the thirty-one stories contained in this volume embody some of the best virtues and values to be found in contemporary fiction, demonstrating why the author is acclaimed as one of America's master storytellers. BACKCOVER: ?Exemplary stories . . . The reader of Stegner's writing is immediately reminded of an essential America . . . a distinct place, a unique people, a common history, and a shared heritage remembered as only Stegner can.?"?Los Angeles Times