Cather and Opera

David McKay Powell is associate professor of English at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky, where his research focuses on the intersections of classical music and American literature.

"Among the valuable services Cather and Opera provides is reminding readers that opera, particularly Wagnerian opera, was a dominant cultural referent in the 19th- and early-20th-century US. . . . Powell sees the contradictions of opera--its heightened emotional expressivity, its refinement and complexity--as dynamics essential to Cather's work. . . . Cather emerges as an even more fascinating writer."--Choice "David McKay Powell's Cather and Opera not only is the first book to focus on Cather's fascination with opera but also provides fresh discussions and sharp commentary about many other aspects of Cather's life and work. Readers just discovering Cather and scholars alike will find it an enormously useful and entertaining resource." --John H. Flannigan, retired professor of English, Prairie State College "Opera had a profound impact on Willa Cather as an artist. This book unpacks both the direct references to opera in Cather's fiction and the operatic structures that run through her work. Powell's study is accessible and compelling, especially in its attentiveness to Cather's early short stories, and readers will come away with a deeper appreciation for the complex artistry of Cather's fiction." --Kelsey Squire, associate professor of English at Ohio Dominican University and author of Willa Cather: The Critical Conversation