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Willa Cather: A Literary Life
James Woodress goes beyond previous biographers in drawing on some fifteen hundred letters, interviews, speeches, and reminiscences. He separates much fact from fiction and takes into account the ever-growing body of Cather criticism. The author of My Ántonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop was in love with here are her passions, prejudices, and quirks of personality. Thoroughly grounded in Cather's writings, which were autobiographical to an uncommon degree, Willa A Literary Life is likely to stand as the definitive biography of her for years to come.
625 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 14, 2012
If you need info on Cather, READ THIS!!! The only other resource I found bordering impressive compared to this was E.K. Brown's Biography. From Virginia to New York. Woodress shows up cited more than any other author in my last Research paper...
September 11, 2013
A good biography, if a little reverential and adoring. The long plot and character summaries of her works also gets tiring. But for a biography of someone who was apolitical and celibate, it was pretty interesting.
March 5, 2021
This serves as Cather 101 for me. I looked forward to all 500 pages. Woodress established a template for his analysis: life events discerned mostly through correspondence; basic plots of the works; critical reaction of the time. It became rhythmical for me. This is not a feminist analysis. I look forward to more and different approaches to Cather's work.
August 23, 2018
Fantastic reference material!
September 3, 2018
This is all the biography of a literary figure should be. Not only are people, places, and events presented in sufficient detail, but there is thoughtful examination of the work. There is no attempt to explore her sex life which is proper. It is more important to see how the people she knew, how her interests and tastes, and the events she experienced helped shape her writing.
January 27, 2015
Last week I spent the whole week with Willa Cather. While I had never before read Cather I had heard enough of her work to think I wouldn't be interested in her pastoral stories of pioneers and settling on the Great Plains. However a couple of weeks ago, my literary journey with Stephen Tennant resulted in the discovery that one of the few authors to elicit his admiration was Willa Cather. In fact the two carried on correspondence for many years and I was intriqued by his admiration for her work. Other authors he professed to like corresponded with some of my own favourite authors. In order to familiarize myself with her work I picked up James Woodress's biography and traveled along with her across the Great Plains through the the Southwest and on her travels throughout Europe. It was an exciting journey made more enjoyable by the rich detail provided by Woodress who is a Professor Emeriti for the Department of English at the University of California at Davis. He has written an in-depth biography that weaves together the details of Cather's life with her novels and travels. My only quibble with the work, is his inability to address Cather's relationships with women, specifically that of Edith Lewis. At best he wants to few these relationships which lasted a lifetime as merely friendships never allowing any insight into the depth of emotion or devotion possible between Cather and her female paramours.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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