Labeled "Scholarly Edition" and carrying the Modern Language Association of America's seal of approval, this edition of O Pioneers! certainly lives up to expectations. It is a generous edition, to be sure. This early novel is now held to be a very crucial and pivotal one in the whole development of the novelist, and this new scholarly edition provides a large selection of meaningful tools for the scholars, as well as a fine printing for the readers. A 20-page historiacl essay on the coming into being of O Pioneers! is supported by ten black-and-white background photos, which are helpful in demonstrating how much this novel is really rooted in the Nebraska plains. Other specifically textual apparatus (also generous) consists of five sections: textual commentary, emendations; notes on emendations, rejected substantives, and word division. Editors Rosowski and Mignon, along with Kathleen Danker and David Stouck, deserve a full measure of praise for their work. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty; general. J. P. Lovering; Canisius College

Gr 8 Up-This work, written in 1913, was the first in Cather's "Great Plains" trilogy, and it was followed by The Song of the Lark and My Antonia. Strong-willed, intelligent Alexandra Bergson is the daughter of Swedish immigrants. She inherits her father's farmland instead of it being left to her brothers, Emil, Oscar, and Lou, because she has the vision and foresight to try new crops, buy additional lands, and take risks in order to reap future rewards. Cather's poetic and lyrical writing captures the Nebraska prairie and rolling hills. Using a variety of voices and capturing the dialects of the various immigrants who inhabit the novel, reader Betsy Bronson is impeccable. Her melodic voice imbues Cather's words with the sentiments of love, envy, jealousy, and peace that drive the story. This recording is delightful and leaves one with the understanding and appreciation that the land is always there for those who take time to truly see and appreciate it.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Mt. Carmel (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.