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Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder Audiobook
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Publisher Description
The first comprehensive historical biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the beloved author of the Little House on the Prairie book series Millions of readers of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls-the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true story of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser-the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series-masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography, setting the record straight regarding charges of ghostwriting that have swirled around the books and uncovering the grown-up story behind the most influential childhood epic of pioneer life. Set against nearly a century of epochal change, from the Homestead Act and the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, Wilder's dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mythology of self-reliance. Offering fresh insight and new discoveries about Wilder's life and times, Prairie Fires is the definitive book about Wilder and her world. Author bio: Caroline Fraser is the editor of the Library of America edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, and the author of Rewilding the World and God's Perfect Child. Her writing has appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, and the London Review of Books, among other publications. She lives in New Mexico.
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“Narrator Christina Moore’s straightforward delivery nicely suits this in-depth exploration of Laura Ingalls Wilder…Moore injects her performance with energy and enthusiasm appropriate for Wilder’s fans who are eager to learn more about the beloved author…She keeps listeners engaged as the author places Wilder’s works into the wider context of American history.”
— AudioFile
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“Magnificent…A remarkable, noteworthy biography of an American literary icon. It will captivate Little House fans as well as anyone looking to understand ‘the perpetual hard winter’ of life in frontier times.”
— USA Today -
“For anyone who has drifted into thinking of Wilder’s ‘Little House’ books as relics of a distant and irrelevant past, reading Prairie Fires will provide a lasting cure…Meanwhile, ‘Little House’ devotees will appreciate the extraordinary care and energy Fraser devotes to uncovering the details of a life that has been expertly veiled by myth.”
— New York Times Book Review (front page) -
“The definitive biography…Magisterial and eloquent…A rich, provocative portrait.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune -
“[An] important and meticulous biography…complex and astonishing…A subtle, intelligent, and quietly explosive study.”
— Financial Times (London) -
“Not only a work of rigorous scholarship, but it also portrays Wilder, and her daughter Rose, in ways that illuminate our society’s current crises and rifts.”
— New York Review of Books -
“Impressive…Prairie Fires could not have been published at a more propitious time in our national life.”
— New Republic -
“It is its marriage of biography and history―the latter providing such a rich context for the life―that is one of the great strengths of this indispensable book.”
— Booklist (starred review)
Awards
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A New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book of the Year
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Semi-finalist for the 2018 Plutarch Award
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month
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Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
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Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
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An iBooks bestseller in Biographies
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Shortlisted for the 2018 Cundill Prize in Historical Literature
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A November 2017 LibraryReads Pick
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A Literary Hub Pick of Best Nonfiction Works of the Decade
Prairie Fires Listener Reviews
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Rene Bancroft, 11/16/2021
About Caroline Fraser
Caroline Fraser, the editor of the Library of America edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, is the author of Prairie Fires, Rewilding the World, and God’s Perfect Child. Her writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, New Yorker, Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, and London Review of Books, among other publications.
About Christina Moore
Christina Moore is an actress and Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. As an actress, she is best known for her roles in the television series That ’70s Show, Hawthorne, and 90210. She is a founding member of Bitches Funny, an all-female sketch group that has performed in New York City and Los Angeles.