ChroniclesnA MAGAnNE OF AMERICAN CULTUREn”It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”n— Henry JamesnPERSPECTIVEnVIEWSnWestern Is as Western Doesnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.nThe Garden of Alejandra Ruiz by Kent Nelson 14nA short story.nBig Little House in American Literature by 20nChilton Williamson, Jr.nA reappraisal of the work of Laura Ingalls Wilder.nInscribing the American Frontier 26nby A. Carl BredahlnWhy Western narrative is so American.nImagining the West OPINIONSnby M.E. BradfordnWestern Writers Series, edited by Wayne Chattertonnand James H. Maguire. Surveying the seriesnpublished by Boise State University.nREVIEWSnGeoffrey Wagner praises Noel Annan’s Our Age:nEnglish Intellectuals Between the World Warsn• Thomas Fleming recommends the latestnvolume of Peter Russell’s poems • Michael E.nHenstock’s Fernando de Lucia, Son of Naples is anworthy contribution to the history of music, writesnJ.O. Tate •nCORRESPONDENCE —nLetter From the Frontier: Ranchwomen, Life,naijd Literature by Stephen BodionThe distinctive quality of Western fiction.n32n35n39nLetter From Italy: There and Back Again 41nby Thomas FlemingnLetter From the Lower Right: A Good Job for 44nthe Federal Governmentnby John Shelton Reedn12nVITAL SIGNSnPlundered Province: The American West as 46nLiterary Regionnby Gregory McNameenNotes From a Writer of Trash 48nby Richard S. WheelernDEPARTMENTSnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSnPRINCIPALITIES & POWERSnby Samuel FrancisnPOETRYnThe Morning You Camento the Hayfield,nThe Dark Fields,nand The Watchnby Brad OmansonnOn the State’s New Divorce Lawnby Richard MoorenCover by Jan Vandenbiesen.nON THE COVERnnn4n6n10n19n31n34n25nNOVEMBER 1991/3n