Visionaries of the American West : Mari Sandoz and Her Four Plains Protagonists

The authorial reputation of Mari Sandoz has long rested in the shadow of other writers of her era. First of all, Sandoz wrote from and about a relatively remote region of the United States. In addition, she firmly refused to produce popular works at the expense of sacrificing the truth she perceived and wished to express. Consequently, Sandoz has often been classified as a regional writer and her works have been overlooked by many readers and critics. Her status as a woman, her unconventional writing style, point of view, and subject matter, and the blending of historical and fictional elements in her works have variously tended to hinder Sandoz\u27s reputation as a literary artist. Although her works received national reviews and careful scrutiny from western critics and historians, and recently from feminists, critical recognition has generally eluded Sandoz.. [Introduction p.1