Why people recommend it
The Big Rock Candy Mountain is a sprawling, semi-autobiographical novel by Wallace Stegner that chronicles an itinerant American family's struggles and wanderings across the West through decades of marriage and changing economic times. On The Book Review podcast, during an episode titled A.O. Scott on the Work of Wallace Stegner released on July 18, 2024, guest A.O. Scott named the book as his absolute favorite and a prime candidate for his top all-time books, noting that it is a sprawling and somewhat less disciplined work because Stegner was younger when he wrote it. Scott discussed how the main couple, Bo and Elsa Mason, whose decades-long marriage forms the core of the narrative, were heavily based on Stegner's own parents. Additionally, in another podcast appearance titled Tillie Olsen and the Barriers to Creativity, Paul A.O. Scott compared another writer's work directly to Stegner's great novel, linking it back to the vivid portrayal of an itinerant Western childhood. These reflections captured the emotional gravity and personal roots of Stegner's masterpiece, illustrating why it remains a monumental achievement in Western American literature.
Who recommended it
- AO Scott Recommended
- Paul A.O. Scott Discussed
AO Scott — 2 mentions
“so in Big Rock Candy Mountain Bo and Elsa Mason are the main couple and it's about their Decades of marriage they're very much based on stegner's own parents”
“well I think there are a few I mean I I would say my absolute favorite and you know candidate for for my top whatever alltime books is probably Big Rock Candy Mountain which is more sprawling and in some ways maybe less disciplined book because he was younger when when he wrote it”
Paul A.O. Scott — 1 mention
“and that story reminds me a lot of the first writer that I that that I wrote about in this in this series Wallace stegner and his great novel Big Rock Candy Mountain which is about an itinerant Western childhood”