I've never read any Wallace Stegner books before and chose this because of the narrator, the great Richard Poe. As usual the books he performs don't disappoint. This is no action tale, no melodrama, no romance. It feels very real and unpretentious, almost like an autobiography. the story progresses strictly by the weave of the character's subtle motives, as life does, and all of these people are rich and true. There is gravity to what might be pulled from this sort of narrative, which is a distillation of experience otherwise unknowable to us, the readers, because we live our own lives in our own pocket of the world. This book is a great example of why we read, why we should read, because great books simply transport you into an alternate reality which is a form of meta-reality, almost more real than life is because of what it has gathered and transferred to us. Story is existence. And this book tells a good story that enriches the aim of our desire to understand our own existence.

Such great writing - very enjoyable. Narrator adds a lot - he is excellent. Book can be a little slow in some parts, but overall, I liked experiencing life in a different era.