What you don't know, willa Cathar? The amazing 20th century writer known for subtly nuanced characters and an intimate understanding of place.

All right then, let's get you caught up.

In the next hour, join me Meg Wal, and one of Cathar's biggest fans,

Documentarian Ken Burns, as we explore Willa Cathar's America. You're listening to selected shorts, where our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

When you picture early American life, maybe you imagine the salty sea dogs and rough-and-tumble

port towns of Herman Melville, or the unforgiving wilds and rugged

adventurers of James Fenimore Cooper, or the schoolhouses and steamships populated by Mark Twain's

playful rogues.

Sure, all that stuff is in my head too.

But I've got other things up there as well.

The vast Western prairies of Nebraska

and the determined passionate artists of New York.

Yes, I'm talking about Willa Cather, the underappreciated 20th century writer behind titles including

My Antonia and Oh Pioneers.

While she may not hold the sway of various white guys in early American literature

or even someone like Louisa May Alcott,

Cathar was a powerful writer with a clear-eyed sense of the world around

her.

But all the writers I know love Willa-Cather.

My friend Mary Gordon says she loves her because Cathar is not afraid of impossible situations to which there are no solutions.

And Mary adds, she's a tragedy, but unlike many American writers, there's no melodrama in it.

When I first read Cathar, the rhythms of the Great Plains were a far wind-swept cry from my own suburban existence.

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