My Antonia

Publisher Marketing: My Antonia, published in 1918, is the most famous work of American novelist Willa Cather. The novel takes the form of a fictional memoir written by Jim Burden about an immigrant girl named Antonia with whom he grew up in the American West. Cather, like her character Jim, moved to Nebraska when she was ten years old, and she bases many of the events, characters, and settings of the novel on her own childhood experiences. The novel forms a sort of "trilogy" with two other prairie novels by Cather, O Pioneers! (1913) and The Song of the Lark (1915). For its time and context, My Antonia pushed the boundaries of traditional literature. First, its narrative structure is mainly built from episodes and anecdotes rather than a continuous storyline - Cather thinks nothing of jumping twenty years ahead in between chapters. For this reason, the novel is sometimes considered a modernist work (see "Genre" for more). My Antonia also blurs gender barriers. To begin, the novel is written by a woman but told through the eyes of a male narrator. Additionally, the characters in the story break from stereotypical gender roles - the women are strong, athletic, and active, while the men are generally passive and weak. Interestingly, while studying at the University of Nebraska, Cather herself used to wear men's clothing and go by the name "William." Cather was also nontraditional in her choice of subject matter. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Cather chose to write about everyday people in the American West. My Antonia focuses on the lives and concerns of average Nebraskans, including European immigrants - the kind of people that Cather grew up around. As a result, the novel provides modern readers a glimpse into the lives of the early white settlers of the American West." Review Citations: Booklist 09/01/2007 pg. 139 (EAN 9780786168545, Compact Disc) Ingram Paperback Advance 03/01/2005 pg. 63 (EAN 9780451529725, Mass Market Paperbound) School Library Journal 03/01/2004 (EAN 9781400100743, Other) Newsweek 10/29/2007 pg. 16 (EAN 9780140187649, Paperback) Entertainment Weekly 07/05/2013 pg. 96 (EAN 9780140187649, Paperback) Library Journal 02/15/1995 (EAN 9780803214682, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2000 pg. 111 (EAN 9780679447276, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 157 (EAN 9780679447276, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 734 (EAN 9780679447276, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 90 (EAN 9780679447276, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 900 (EAN 9780679447276, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2014 pg. 125 (EAN 9780679447276, Hardcover) Ingram Advance 06/01/1999 pg. 101 (EAN 9780140283273, Paperback) Publishers Weekly 02/24/2014 (EAN 9781629230702, Compact Disc) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2002 pg. 594 (EAN 9780395755143, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/1992 pg. 674 (EAN 9780395083567, Paperback) Booklist 01/15/1992 pg. 910 (EAN 9780395083567, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/1992 pg. 674 (EAN 9780395075142, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/1997 pg. 625 (EAN 9780395075142, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/1995 pg. 111 (EAN 9780395075142, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Cather, Willa A Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Willa Cather s work was profoundly influenced by her upbringing in rural Nebraska. During her young adulthood Cather proved herself intelligent and capable, initially training for a career as a medical doctor, but discovered a love of, and talent for, writing while attending the University of Nebraska. Following graduation, Cather worked as a journalist for several women s magazines before becoming a high school teacher; an opportunity work as an editor at McClure s provided Cather with her first chance to publish as the magazine serialized her first novel, Alexander s Bridge, to critical acclaim. This was soon followed by works that have since become best-loved American classics, including My ?ntonia, The Song of the Lark, and her Pulitzer-Prize winner, One of Ours. Cather died in 1947 at the age of 73.