The American Critical Archives is a series of reference books that provide representative selections of contemporary reviews of the main works of major American authors. Specifically, each volume contains both full reviews and excerpts from reviews that appeared in newspapers and weekly and monthly periodicals, generally within a few months of the publication of the work concerned. There is an introductory historical overview by the volume editor, as well as checklists of additional reviews located but not quoted. This volume offers a broad sampling of the immediate reaction to the appearance of Willa Cather's volumes of poetry, fiction, and criticism. While most reviews are from the major national journals and newspapers in major cities, some reviews show the responses in Nebraska, New Mexico, Quebec and other locales where Cather's works are set. The reviews are often flattering, sometimes angry, sometimes so careful in their dissection of Cather's work that they are worthy of study themselves. This collection shows forty-five years of intelligent attention to one author's life's work.
