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Obsure Destinies
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1932
About the author
Willa Cather
879 books2,772 followersWilella Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley (Gore), Virginia, in December 7, 1873.
She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.
After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.
Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.
She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.
She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.
She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.
After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.
Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.
She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.
She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 30, 2024
Contents: "Neighbour Rosicky," "Old Mrs. Harris," "Two Friends."
For me, "Two Friends" is a negligible story about a falling out over politics (William Jennings Bryan and the silver standard) that uses a nameless, sexless child narrator external to the affair but permanently touched by it. "Neighbour Rosicky" *is* a keeper, without doubt, but I do have it in another volume. So whether this book goes in the donation pile rests entirely on my feelings for the long-ish novella "Old Mrs. Harris." I LOVED most of it. I just felt it ended clumsily, with something I have found annoying in several other Cather works: that just when I think she should stay in the emotional place that hooked me to begin with and write the heart-tugging denouement, she kind of retracts, and ends things at more of a remove. Do I forgive that?--probably.
For me, "Two Friends" is a negligible story about a falling out over politics (William Jennings Bryan and the silver standard) that uses a nameless, sexless child narrator external to the affair but permanently touched by it. "Neighbour Rosicky" *is* a keeper, without doubt, but I do have it in another volume. So whether this book goes in the donation pile rests entirely on my feelings for the long-ish novella "Old Mrs. Harris." I LOVED most of it. I just felt it ended clumsily, with something I have found annoying in several other Cather works: that just when I think she should stay in the emotional place that hooked me to begin with and write the heart-tugging denouement, she kind of retracts, and ends things at more of a remove. Do I forgive that?--probably.
Displaying 1 of 1 review