My Antonia

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` As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of wine-stains... And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.` My Antonia (1918) depicts the pioneering period of European settlement on the tall-grass prairie of the American midwest, with its beautiful yet terrifying landscape, rich ethnic mix of immigrants & native-born Americans, & communities who share life`s joys & sorrows. Jim Burden recounts his memories of Antonia Shimerda, whose family settle in Nebraska from Bohemia. Together they share childhoods spent in a new world. Jim leaves the prairie for college & a career in the east, while Antonia devotes herself to her large family & productive farm. Her story is that of the land itself, a moving portrait of endurance & strength. Described on publication as `one of the best [novels] that any American has ever done`, My Antonia paradoxically took Cather out of the rank of provincial novelists as the same time that it celebrated the provinces, & mythologized a period of American history that had to be lost before its value could be understood. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World`s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford`s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, & much more.