Entertainment

Published in 1940, Kings Row is out of print and hard to find, which is surprising for a book that was hailed in a movie trailer as the best book of the year. The movie version, released in 1942 with an all-star cast, included Robert Cummings, Ann Southern, Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Betty Field, and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In fact, it has been suggested that this film is considered to be Ronald Reagan’s finest work before he later ventured into politics. 

Ochre and yellow, half shades of green between the sea and groves of olives, old, old tamarisks, and the rainbow flowers of quivering red tubes, Willa Cather conjures New Mexico as a dream that turns out to be true.