Book review: 'Wallace Stegner and the American West'

Title: "Wallace Stegner and the American West"

Author: by Philip L. Fradkin

Publisher: Knopf

Pages: 370

Price: $27.50

In a Nutshell: In a provocative and delicately constructed biography, Philip Fradkin, former journalist for the Los Angeles Times and author of 10 additional books, presents a balanced, lively interpretation of Wallace Stegner's life. Stegner, a prolific writer, wrote "Mormon Country," probably the most balanced account of the development and growth of Mormonism extant by a non-Mormon. He also wrote "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" and "Recapitulation" about growing up in his beloved Salt Lake City. He spent most of his adult years teaching and writing at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., where he was revered.