There are many critical studies and resources available. These books reflect my distillation from the numerous ones available. Most of the following books were used in doing research in writing this unit. They are good reference books for both the teacher and students. Books especially relevant for students are marked with and asterisk.*
*Bennett, Mildred R.
The World of Willa Cather
. New York: Dodd Mead, and Co., 1951.
Primary source on Willa Cather’s family history and the autobiographical influence on
My Antonia
.
*Bloom, Harold.
Modern Critical Views: Willa Cather
. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985.
An excellent collection of critical essays dealing with all of Willa Cather’s novels.
Brown, E. K.
Willa Cather: A Critical Biography
, completed by Leon Edel. A collection of essays on Willa Cather’s art.
Murphy, John J. ed.
Critical Essays on Willa Cather
. Boston: G. K. Hall and Co., 1984.
Mr. Murphy believes that Cather has been neglected in the past, but from 1970 on, her fiction has evoked significant criticism and analysis with much of it contained in this book.
*Robinson, Phyllis C.
Willa: The Life of Willa Cather
. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983.
Biography of the people, places, events and experiences that helped to mold Cather’s life and art.
Schroeter, James ed.
Willa Cather and Her Critics
. New York: Cornell University Press, 1967.
This book is a compendium of the most perceptive and representative criticism of Willa Cather’s work.
*Sergeant, Elizabeth Shepley.
Willa Cather: A Memoir
. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1963.
Included are memoirs written by a close friend of Cather’s, from years 1910-1931. Many enlightening insights into why, how, and for what intent, she wrote
My Antonia
.
*Slote, Bernice.
Willa Cather: A Pictorial Memoir
. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1973.
Brilliant photographs of Nebraska, the Southwest, Quebec, the East, and Virginia, the settings of many of Cather’s novels and descriptions from her novels and poetry. Also, included are pictures of people and other places in her life combined with short essays.
Slote, Bernice.
The Kingdom of Art
:
Willa Cather’s First Principles and Critical Statements 1893-1896
. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968.
This book is about Cather’s beginning as a writer and the forces that shaped her art and life.
*Slote, Bernice, and Virginia Faulkner.
The Art of Willa Cather
. Lincoln University of Nebraska Press, 1974. An excellent sampling of the criticism and insights of eighty-five scholars from seven nations who attended “The Art of Willa Cather: An International Seminar” held in Lincoln, Nebraska, October 25-28, 1973, sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Stouck, David.
Willa Cather’s Imagination
. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1975. This book focuses on Cather’s imaginative, intellectual, and aesthetic development in the rich range of styles, forms, characters, and ideas in her more than fifty year writing career. He often describes the union of her life and art.