Plains Song

""Nowhere in [Morris's] fiction does emotion emerge from detail so beautifully as in this precise and vivid book. . . . The triumph of the book, in terms of craft, is that we experience the sense of the slow passage of time so necessary to such a story. . . . The heart of the book is its tactful rendering of the emotional history of several women. . . . Precise, satisfying, and complete.""—New York Times Book Review|""This is a beautiful, subtle novel that accomplishes the rare effect of presenting history from the inside out. . . . As the title suggests, this is a melody without accompaniment, music of the simplest and most beautiful kind. Perhaps it is because Morris sketches his characters so sparingly that they seem so indelible. They are such a real presence that it's hard to think they haven't actually lived.""—Christian Science Monitor|""Wright Morris knows the embattled regions within his people as well as the harshly beautiful landscapes that surround them.""—New Republic