Published in 1937, Remembering Laughter launched Pulitzer Prize-winning Stegner's career as a novelist. The story is set in Iowa of the late 1800’s. only 150 pages, but full of thoughts about the differences among people, forgiveness, deception and the damage created by a long-held family secret. Stegner's wife Mary revealed in a short afterword to Penguin's 1996 republication that the story was based on two old aunts of hers, one a widow and one a spinster, who together had raised a son who could have been the child of either of them; Mrs. Stegner wasn't sure whose.
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The Book that Launched Wallace Stegner's Career
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Comments (3)
What tortured lives people live when they refuse to forgive. Remembering laughter is a good, little read.
Posted by Elaine | August 8, 2007 9:07 AM
Posted on August 8, 2007 09:07
I could not fathom how any one could hold in all of the secrets and guilt without absolutely exploding. It was as if they were all made of stone. It was not much of a shock when he (can't remember his name) walked into the house and dropped dead. How the three of them could suppress their emotions all of those years is almost beyond comprehension.
Posted by Mildred | August 7, 2007 1:55 PM
Posted on August 7, 2007 13:55
I read the book in one sitting ~ at the beach the other day. I enjoyed it very much, although I felt pity for the characters. Stegner was a great writer.
Posted by RJ | August 7, 2007 1:46 PM
Posted on August 7, 2007 13:46