Introduction

Abstract

When Cather was asked to comment on Nebraska as a ’storehouse of literary material’ her answer, as the interviewer remarked, was ‘less than conciliatory’: ‘“If a true artist was born in a pig pen and raised in a sty, he would still find plenty of inspiration for his work.”’¹ Cather happened to grow up in the Midwest and she wrote most convincingly about the things she knew well. Later, she wrote about other places too but critics have concentrated almost exclusively on her portrayal of the frontier. Being classified as a regional novelist has seriously damaged Cather’s reputation and prevented her work from receiving the recognition it deserves.²