Wallace Stegner, His Life and Work, Jackson Benson (Viking, 1997) ****

I stated that Wallace Stegner was one of my favorite authors and I briefly described some of his more popular novels, such as Angle of Repose and my own favorite, Crossing to Safety. Jackson Benson, a professor of American Literature at San Diego State University, has written an excellent biography of this amazing author.

Benson began working with Stegner back in 1986. Stegner was reluctant about having his biography done but had warmly reviewed Benson's award winning biography of John Steinbeck for the Los Angeles Times, and so he gave Benson the go-ahead, with unlimited access to his own papers. They met each year to work on the project until Stegner's death in 1993. It is a beautifully written biography, very thorough but written in a conversational style with numerous anecdotes and conversations. Benson illustrates so clearly the powerful influence of the environment on Wallace Stegner's life and on the stories he wrote, as well as Stegner's signigicant achievements in influencing environmental issues.