O pioneers! and other tales of the prairie

the long version

"Gathered together in this unique collection are the novel O Pioneers! - Cather's famous double elegy to the land and to the pioneer spirit - and two of her greatest shorter works, "A Lost Lady and "The Bohemian Girl." With O Pioneers!, Cather created something bracing and new in American literature, a boldly imaginative and compassionate tribute to the men and women who struggled to make a life on the forbidding, open contours of the Western prairies. And in her radiant heroine Alexandra Bergson she brought to life a resolute and passionate woman who has become one of our most beloved literary figures. In this volume, Alexandra is joined by two other remarkable women: the vivacious, restive Clara Vavricka Ericson of the short story "The Bohemian Girl," and the enchanting but curiously baffling Marian Forrester of A Lost Lady, a luminous novella that for many critics and readers stands as the most exquisite example of Cather's art."--BOOK JACKET.