Willa Cather's masterful novel marks both her return to the Nebraska of her youth and the discovery of an original literary voice. O Pioneers! vividly recalls the stories of the immigrant settlers Cather knew during her childhood and teenage years in Red Cloud. This Norton Critical Edition brings to life-through Cather's words, and through the words and images of others-the uniquely American frontier experience. "Contexts and Backgrounds" includes a rich selection of autobiographical and biographical material, including three interviews with Cather (1913, 1915, 1921). Literary contexts are provided by Cather and by Henry James, Edith Wharton, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Walt Whitman. The American West is revealed in words, photographs, and illustrations, including a selection from the Oblinger family letters (part of the Library of Congress American Memory project), Frederick Jackson Turner on the historical importance of the American frontier, and original documents from the Nebraska Historical Society. Mike Fischer explores Cather's relationship to Native American history and experience, questioning what role, if any, imperialism played in her creative process. "Criticism" provides seven contemporary reviews of O Pioneers! and modern critical interpretations by David Stouck, John J. Murphy, C. Susan Wiesenthal, Marilee Lindemann, Melissa Ryan, Guy Reynolds, and Sharon O'Brien. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included. Book jacket.