New Releases by Wallace Stegner

Bruce Mason est un ambassadeur à la retraite installé à San Francisco. Quarante-cinq ans auparavant, il partait de Salt Lake City avec la ferme intention de tirer un trait définitif sur son histoire familiale mouvementée. Il n’a plus grand-chose en commun avec le garçon frêle et révolté qu’il était. Mais le voici de retour dans la ville de sa jeunesse pour organiser l’enterrement de sa tante. Au fil de ses déambulations dans les rues familières, ses souvenirs l’entraînent dans un voyage sinueux au cœur de son passé, l’obligeant à renouer avec celui qu’il a été. Wallace Stegner a été récompensé par le Prix Pullitzer pour son livre Angle d''équilibre et a reçu le National Book Award pour L''oiseau Spectateur.

Un couple de retraités confrontés à la jeunesse bouillonnante des années 1960. En ces bouillonnantes années 1960, la jeunesse américaine se berce d''illusions et d''utopies. Joe Allston, agent littéraire à la retraite, regarde cette époque agitée avec ironie : revenu de tout, il regrette de n''avoir pas su créer avec son fils désormais décédé la relation qu''il aurait voulue. Seule l''affection que sa femme Ruth et lui portent à un jeune couple du voisinage les rattache encore au monde extérieur. Leur existence confortable et routinière va se voir chamboulée par l''installation d''une colonie de hippies à proximité. Entre indulgence et exaspération, Joe et Ruth vont se retrouver confrontés à une jeunesse qu''ils ne comprennent plus guère. "Un roman d’une intensité crépitante." - New York Times Book review "À la fois ancré dans notre époque et intemporel." - Chicago Tribune

Suspendue au bras de son mari Alec, Margaret guette avec impatience l''arrivée du train de sa sœur Elspeth, venue d''Écosse pour vivre avec eux dans l''Iowa. Vive et malicieuse, s''émerveillant d''un rien, Elspeth respire la joie de vivre et ne tarde pas à illuminer leur vie de riches fermiers bien installés. Mais alors que l''automne s''annonce, un triangle amoureux se forme peu à peu entre Alec et les deux soeurs. Lorsque survient l''irréparable, celui-ci ne tarde pas à se transformer en piège dramatique. Il faudra alors sauver ce qui peut l''être. Dans ce court roman demeuré inédit en France, Wallace Stegner révèle avec la virtuosité qu''on lui connaît les drames qui se jouent derrière les apparences d''une existence paisible.

Wallace Stegner''s remarkable portrait of Joe Hill, the man and the legend: from his entrance into the Industrial Workers of the World union, the most militant organization in the history of American labor, to his trial, imprisonment, and final martyrdom. Blending fact with fiction, Wallace Stegner retells the story of Joe Hill--the Wobbly bard who became the stuff of legend when, in 1915, he was executed for the alleged murder of a Salt Lake City businessman. Organizer, agitator, "Labor''s Songster"--a rebel from the skin inwards, with an absolute faith in the One Big Union--Joe Hill fought tirelessly in the frequently violent battles between organized labor and industry. But though songs and stories still vaunt him, and his legend continues to inspire those who feel the injustices he fought against, Joe Hill may not have been a saintly crusader and may have been motivated by impulses darker than the search for justice.

Bo Mason, his wife, Elsa, and their two boys live a transient life of poverty and despair. Drifing from town to town and from state to state, the violent, ruthless Bo seeks outhis fortune--in the hotel business, on new farmland, and, eventually, in illegal rum-running through the threacherous back roads of the American Northwest. Bo chases after the promise of the American dream through Minnesota, the Dakotas, Saskatchewan, Montana, Utah and Nevada, but ultimately there is no escaping the devastating reach of the Depression and his own ruinous fate. In this affecting narrative, a defining masterpiece by the "dean of Western writers" (The New York Times), Wallace Stegner portrays more than three decades in the life of the Mason family as they struggle to survivle during the lean years of the early twentieth century. With an introduction by Robert Stone.

Dakota, 1905. La jeune Elsa a fui les plaines du Minnesota pour venir jusqu''ici dans l''espoir d''y fonder une famille. Bo Mason, lui, rêve de fortune, d''aventures, de mouvement perpétuel et de conquêtes. Lorsqu''ils tombent éperdument amoureux, ces désirs contradictoires semblent accessoires. Au fur et à mesure des trente années qu''ils vont partager naîtront deux garçons, se désintègreront les désirs, se bâtiront d''autres réussites, pendant qu''un pays continuera de se construire et de charrier des mythes. Entre bonheurs éphémères, affres de l''amour, temps de la prohibition et conquête de la terre, Wallace Stegner, immense écrivain de l''Ouest, livre ici l''histoire passionnante d''une famille qui résonne à travers les époques et les cultures.

Deux couples d''enseignants à l''âge de la retraite, amis de longue date, passent leurs vacances dans une maison isolée en pleine forêt. Les uns étaient modestes, les autres mondains, mais l''amour de la littérature, le partage des bonheurs et des épreuves de l''existence ont forgé entre eux un lien aussi indissoluble que nécessaire. Au fil des retours sur le passé, Stegner évoque avec force et émotion le flot de la vie et la puissance du souvenir, tandis que s''invite la promesse de la mort. En lieu sûr est le dernier roman de Wallace Stegner, figure incontournable de la littérature américaine, dont l''œuvre maintes fois couronnée (Prix Pulitzer, National Book Award) continue d''influencer d''innombrables héritiers.

A classic novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety. Here is the incredible, moving sequel to the bestselling Big Rock Candy Mountain by the "dean of Western writers" (The New York Times). Bruce Mason returns to Salt Lake City not for his aunt’s funeral, but to encounter the place he fled in bitterness forty-five years ago. A successful statesman and diplomat, Mason had buried his awkward childhood and sealed himself off from the thrills and torments of adolescence to become a figure who commanded international respect. Both the realities of the present recede in the face of ghosts of his past. As he makes the perfunctory arrangements for the funeral, we enter with him on an intensely personal and painful inner pilgrimage: we meet the father who darkened his childhood , the mother whose support was both redeeming and embarrassing, the friend who drew him into the respectable world of which he so craved to be a part, and the woman he nearly married. In this profound book, the sequel to the bestselling The Big Rock Candy Mountain, Wallace Stegner has drawn an intimate portrait of a man understanding how his life has been shaped by experiences seemingly remote and inconsequential.

An American masterpiece and iconic novel of the West by National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Wallace Stegner—a deeply moving narrative of one family and the traditions of our national past. Lyman Ward is a retired professor of history, recently confined to a wheelchair by a crippling bone disease and dependant on others for his every need. Amid the chaos of 1970s counterculture he retreats to his ancestral home of Grass Valley, California, to write the biography of his grandmother: an elegant and headstrong artist and pioneer who, together with her engineer husband, made her own journey through the hardscrabble West nearly a hundred years before. In discovering her story he excavates his own, probing the shadows of his experience and the America that has come of age around him.

''This is the age for the short story. None will be better or more worthy of admiration than Wallace Stegner''s Collected Stories'' Washington Post Book WorldIn a literary career spanning more than fifty years, Wallace Stegner, winner of a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, has created a remarkable record of the history and culture of twentieth-century America. These thirty-one stories demonstrate why he is acclaimed as one of America''s master storytellers. Here are tales of young love and older wisdom, of the order and consistency of the natural world and the chaos, contradictions and continuities of the human being.''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

Joe Allston es un agente literario jubilado que vive retirado en California junto a su mujer, Ruth; sin antepasados ni descendientes (sus padres y su único hijo murieron hace tiempo), se siente como un espectador que asiste al final de su vida. La llegada de la postal de una vieja amiga le obliga a volver sobre los diarios que escribió veinte años atrás cuando, durante unos meses, viajó con su mujer por Dinamarca para conocer el país del que era originaria su familia. Ruth convence a su marido para que cada noche le lea un fragmento de esos diarios, y así van reviviendo lo sucedido durante aquel viaje, en especial la relación del matrimonio con la misteriosa aristócrata danesa Astrid Wredel-Krarup, que fue su anfitriona en Copenhague. El recuerdo de esa época despierta en ellos sentimientos y preguntas largamente postergados y les lleva a reflexionar sobre aspectos trascendentales de sus vidas. Al igual que en novelas anteriores, Stegner consigue retratar con precisión la multiplicidad de sensaciones y sentimientos que se agolpan en la madurez. El pájaro espectador mereció el National Book Award en 1977. «Uno de nuestros más grandes escritores contemporáneos.» The Washington Post «Elegante y entretenida (...) cada escena está hábilmente desarrollada y cada efecto brillantemente logrado.»The Atlantic «Stegner (...) creyó y escribió sobre la dignidad del ser humano y su capacidad para sobreponerse a sus defectos.»Rodrigo Fresán (ABCD)

El historiador Lyman Ward, ya retirado de sus tareas docentes, se propone investigar la memorable historia de sus abuelos: una pareja de la alta sociedad de la costa Este que en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX abandona el lugar en el que ambos habían crecido para instalarse en California, cuando este era un territorio aún por civilizar. Conforme va profundizando en los recuerdos de su familia, Lyman Ward se da cuenta de la intensidad con la que el pasado ayuda a iluminar y comprender el presente. Basada en la correspondencia de una autora e ilustradora norteamericana, Mary Hallock Foote, una de las primeras artistas en ocuparse de la vida en el Oeste americano, Ángulo de reposo retrata el esfuerzo que tuvieron que hacer las gentes del Viejo Mundo para enfrentarse a una nueva realidad geográfica, histórica y humana. Esta emocionante narración sobre cuatro generaciones de una familia norteamericana fue galardonada con el premio Pulitzer en 1972, y está considerada como la novela más importante de Wallace Stegner y una de las mejores novelas estadounidenses de todo el siglo XX. «Ángulo de reposo está escrita como los dioses. No leerla es uno de esos pecados imperdonables porque —como comprende Lyman Ward al final de su viaje — "sólo los muy afortunados dan con la piedra angular". Buena suerte: aquí está.» Rodrigo Fresán (ABC) «Si las relaciones entre la historia y la literatura suelen ser frecuentes y fructíferas, mucho más en una novela como esta. » Javier Moreno (Quimera) «¿Y qué hubiera sido de mí si los Libros del Asteroide no hubieran tenido el coraje de publicar ''Ángulo de reposo'', la extraordinaria novela de Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) ganadora del Premio Pulitzar en 1971? Desde que la acabé no pienso en otra cosa, sumida como estoy desde entonces en una desolada orfandad. Es difícil encontrar una obra tan descomunal y tan desconocida en nuestro país, una de las más completas, apasionantes y geniales que yo haya leído.» Rosa Regàs (El Comercio) «Un motivo de celebración. Una novela con una amplitud de miras y un amor por el detalle difícil de encontrar en la narrativa moderna.» The Atlantic Monthly «Magistral. Leerlo es una experiencia que recordará.» Boston Globe «Dos historias, una antigua y una actual, se mezclan para lograr lo que debe ser una novela: una realidad más fuerte que la vida.» Los Angeles Times

Cuando dos jóvenes parejas se conocen durante la Gran Depresión surge entre ellas una amistad que durará toda la vida. Son muchas las cosas que inicialmente comparten: Charity Lang y Sally Morgan están esperando su primer hijo, y sus maridos Sid y Larry son profesores de Literatura en la Universidad de Wisconsin, aunque su relación se va haciendo más compleja a medida que comparten décadas de lealtad, amor, fragilidad y desacuerdos. Treinta y cuatro años más tarde del inicio de esta amistad los Morgan visitan la colonia de veraneo de sus amigos en Vermont para el que saben será su último fin de semana junto a Charity. Durante esa visita Larry rememora todos sus años de amistad: las alegrías, las penas, las ilusiones y también los sueños que quedaron por cumplir; pero por encima del relato de los hechos late una profunda reflexión sobre el amor y la amistad, sobre los intentos de cuatro personas por hacer frente a las tribulaciones de la vida. Publicada originalmente en 1987, e inédita hasta ahora en castellano, En lugar seguro se ha convertido por derecho propio en una de las novelas americanas más apreciadas del siglo XX. Con esta novela Libros del Asteroide inicia la publicación de la obra de Wallace Stegner en español, que continuará con Ángulo de reposo y The Spectator Bird.

A broad assemblage of the writing of a great figure in literature and the American Westfiction and nonfiction

A re-publication of a lecture originally delivered by Wallace Stegner as a Tanner Lecture at the University of Utah on February 25, 1980.

Wallace Stegner, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1972, was a great writer. As an author, historian, teacher, and environmentalist, he influenced countless prominent individuals during his long life. Showcasing some of those relationships, these letters (written between 1933 and 1993) cover a broad range of topics, including literature, history, conservation, and Stanford. Here are letters to colleagues, like Ansel Adams, friends and family, as well as many students who went on to become well–respected authors, among them Wendell Berry, John Daniel, Barry Lopez, William Kittredge, and Robert Stone. In 1946 he founded the prestigious Stegner Fellowship Program. In 1961, his memos to then Secretary of the Interior Steward Udall set the tone and agenda for what would become the modern environmental movement. Here, in their entirety, are the letters that track it all. For a man who had no interest in writing an autobiography, they offer an inside look at his "unedited thoughts and opinions, and to a factual narrative untransformed by the literary imagination, to life lived before being lived," writes his son Page Stegner in his introduction. Here is history as told through correspondence with people who helped shape literature, politics, and environmentalism in the twentieth century.

Illuminating a little-known but extremely significant period in world history--the discovery of oil in the Middle East and the beginnings of what is now the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco)--this captivating history explores the birth of the Middle Eastern oil industry. From the king and his royal court to the desert guides, scientists, and mechanics who built the original oil company, Aramco, the distant and desperately poor world of Depression-era Saudi Arabia is vividly brought to life. Written more than 50 years ago, this detailed account serves as a kind of time capsule and features the author''s prescient insights into the cultural and technological consequences of King Ibn Saud''s deliberate decision to choose America as his commercial ally.

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. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

A biography of Clarence Edward Dutton written with the flair and the technical skill of novelist Wallace Stegner.

Where others saw only sage, a salt lake, and a great desert, the Mormons saw their ?lovely Deseret,? a land of lilacs, honeycombs, poplars, and fruit trees. Unwelcome in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, they migrated to the dry lands between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada to establish Mormon country, a wasteland made green. Like the land the Mormons settled, their habits stood in stark contrast to the frenzied recklessness of the American West. Opposed to the often prodigal individualism of the West, Mormons lived in closely knit ?øsome say ironclad ?øcommunities. The story of Mormon country is one of self-sacrifice and labor spent in the search for an ideal in the most forbidding territory of the American West. Richard W. Etulain provides a new introduction to this edition.

Wallace Stegner founded the acclaimed Stanford Writing Program-a program whose alumni include such literary luminaries as Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, and Raymond Carver. Here Lynn Stegner brings together eight of Stegner''s previously uncollected essays-including four never-before-published pieces -on writing fiction and teaching creative writing. In this unique collection he addresses every aspect of fiction writing-from the writer''s vision to his or her audience, from the use of symbolism to swear words, from the mystery of the creative process to the recognizable truth it seeks finally to reveal. His insights will benefit anyone interested in writing fiction or exploring ideas about fiction''s role in the broader culture.

ufeffIntroduction by Terry Tempest Williams Afterword by T. H. Watkins ufeffCalled a “magnificently crafted story . . . brimming with wisdom” by Howard Frank Mosher in The Washington Post Book World, Crossing to Safety has, since its publication in 1987, established itself as one of the greatest and most cherished American novels of the twentieth century. Tracing the lives, loves, and aspirations of two couples who move between Vermont and Wisconsin, it is a work of quiet majesty, deep compassion, and powerful insight into the alchemy of friendship and marriage.

The first collection published since his death in 1993 contains 15 never-before-published essays by Stegner, a little-known novella, and his most powerful and best-known essays on the American West.

Three interviews with Wallace Stegner in which he speaks with candor and eloquence about the arts of writing and living.

Margaret Stuart, the proud wife of a prosperous Iowa farmer, sets high standards for herself and others. Happy in her marriage, she tries to look the other way when her genial husband, Alec, takes to the bottle. When Elspeth, Margaret''s sister, comes to live with them, the young woman is immediately captivated by the beauty and vitality of the farm, and by the affection she receives from those around her. But as summer turns into fall, and the friendship between Alec and Elspeth deepens, Margaret finds her spirit tested by a series of events that seem as cruel and inevitable as the endless prairie winters. Long out of print, Remebering Laughter (1937) marked Wallace Stegner''s brilliant literary debut.

Sabrina Castro, an attractive woman with a strong New England heritage, is married to a wealthy, older California physician who no longer fulfills her dreams. An almost accidental misstep leads her down the slow descent of moral disintegration, until there is no place for her to go but up and out. How Sabrina comes to terms with her life is the theme of this absorbing personal drama, played out against the background of an old Peninsula estate where her mother lives among her servants, her memories of Boston, and her treasured family archives. A Shooting Star displays the storytelling powers that Wallace Stagner''s fans have enjoyed for more than half a century.

Through his work for the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society and his service as special assistant to the Secretary of the interior, Stegner contributed substantially to the emergence and development of the environmental movement.

Joe Allston, the retired literary agent of Stegner''s National Book Award-winning novel, The Spectator Bird, returns in this disquieting and keenly observed novel. Scarred by the senseless death of their son and baffled by the engulfing chaos of the 1960s, Allston and his wife, Ruth, have left the coast for a California retreat. And although their new home looks like Eden, it also has serpents: Jim Peck, a messianic exponent of drugs, yoga, and sex; and Marian Catlin, an attractive young woman whose otherworldly innocence is far more appealing—and far more dangerous.