Raintree County - Tapa blanda

"An achievement of art and purpose, a cosmically brooding book full of significance and beauty." --"The New York Times"

"[A] candidate for that mythical honor, the Great American Novel, "Raintree County" displays unflagging industry [and] a . . . magnificent vitality." --"Saturday Review"

"A work that should rank with Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel" as a landmark in American fiction." --"Philadelphia Inquirer"

"The powerful currents and depth of this great swollen river of a book remain irresistible. "Raintree County" doesn't have to be the great American novel to be an American classic and a classic expression of the American dream; a time and place in our history are made permanent in this book." --Richard Dyer, "Boston Globe"

"[An] extraordinary work . . . I have reread" Raintree County" at least once a year. It is a book that I, at least, have grown into, still grow into." --"Detroit News"

"No myth is more imposing than the Great American Novel; but if it is truly unattainable, I believe that Ross Lockridge made closer approach than any other writer has, before or since." --"Fort Worth Star-Telegram"

"Just how good is "Raintree County"? . . . Looking back at it, one is struck by the strength of its prose and the life of its characters. The Civil War section alone, well over 200 pages and the heart of the book, justifies the extravagant Great American Novel claims some critics have made for it. . . . Had Ross Lockridge, Jr. lived, he might well have changed the direction of American writing--for that, and nothing less, was his intention." --Bruce Cook, "Chicago Tribune"

"My favorite novel of all time is "Raintree County". It's about American journalism, patriotism, and a star-crossed love affair a hundred years ago. Like the Bible, you can pick it up, read any page, and gain something. It's poetry. Forget the movie, if you saw it, the book is something entirely different." --Edna Buchanan, author, "You Only Die Twice" and "Cold Case Squad"

Throughout a single day in 1892, John Shawnessy recalls the great moments of his life?from the love affairs of his youth in Indiana, to the battles of the Civil War, to the politics of the Gilded Age, to his homecoming as schoolteacher, husband, and father. Shawnessy is the epitome of the place and period in which he lives, a rural land of springlike women, shady gamblers, wandering vagabonds, and soapbox orators. Yet here on the banks of the Shawmucky River, which weaves its primitive course through Raintree County, Indiana, he also feels and obeys ancient rhythms. A number-one bestseller when it was first published in 1948, this powerful novel is a compelling vision of 19th-century America with timeless resonance today.