The Grapes of Wrath Is About My People
I have ancestors—my great grandmother, Alabama Gray (she preferred to be called Bonnie), in fact—who traveled from Oklahoma to California …
Category Archives: Realist
Dear Jane Letters, Carp Gasping for Air, and Amputations: Madame Bovary
I have been wanting to read Madame Bovary (1856) by Gustave Flaubert and number 85 on the BBC book list …
Birth and Land in The Good Earth
“And Wang Lung, hearing this, felt his mouth suddenly dry and parched and his voice came from him in a …
John Steinbeck’s Pastures in Heaven
My Internet has been down for two days. Two days! It seemed like we would die. I could only check …
The Ugliest Book Cover Ever
I read Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868) as a youth, but wanted a review of it before I posted …
An American Masterpiece: Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose
Wallace Stegner’s (1909-1993) masterpiece Angle of Repose (1971; Pulitzer 1972) explores the marriage relationships of Susan and Oliver Ward and …
Ideal Women of Literature: Attainable Beauty
There’s a reason why I’d rather read a book than look at a fashion magazine. In case you didn’t know, …
Huck Finn’s Truthful Eyes
I once gave a presentation in an undergraduate grammar and usage course about the correct usage of “between you and …
Hope, Courage, and Feminism in The Portrait of a Lady
I’m not a big fan of Henry James (1843-1916), pictured below. I’ve dutifully read him for class assignments, but never …
My Ántonia, My Middle Name
My middle name is Antonia. It comes from my great grandmother, Antonia Montosa Juanes, who was born in Hawaii to …
