The Big Rock Candy Mountain

By: Wallace Stegner

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Bo Mason, his wife, and his two boys live a transient life of poverty and despair. Drifting from town to town and from state to state, the violent, ruthless Bo seeks his fortune in the hotel business, in new farmland, and, eventually, in illegal rum-running throughout the treacherous back roads of the American Northwest.

Based largely on his own childhood, Stegner has created a masterful, harrowing saga of a family trying to survive during the lean years of the early 20th century. It is the conflict between the hardscrabble existence and Bo's pursuit of the frontier myth and of the American dream that gives the book such resonance and power.

©1938 1940, 1942, 1943 by Wallace Stegner (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Stegner has felt the spell of mountain and prairie, of drought, flood, and blizzard....a harrowing saga." - ( New York Times)
"Stands out beautifully and unforgettably." ( New Yorker)

Couldn't put it down!!!

Would you listen to The Big Rock Candy Mountain again? Why?

I don't review books, but this one I felt compelled to because it was a great story that made you feel like you were there, The performance was excellent, I even LOL'd. I didn't want it to end. Just gotta read....

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bruce as a little boy was my favorite character because he reminded me of my brother's when we were young and made me remember our young imaginations.

What about Mark Bramhall’s performance did you like?

Mark Bramhall made you feel each character, just wish there would have been more about Laura and the baby.

Good story, good narration

I enjoyed this story, it wasn't great but it was good. The characters were well drawn but I never REALLY cared about any of them. Perhaps this was the narration, I am not sure, but I tend to think it is the writing. But it for all of that I enjoyed the story in the vain of most family sagas.

Heart wrenching but Exquisite

This book almost did me in. I was so worried about the characters from beginning to end. They just couldn’t seem to catch a break, but the prose was glorious. I sat up the other night at 2 o’clock in the morning and finished the last two chapters because I knew I would cry and wanted to be by myself.

What an astonishing book and what a terrific audible performance. I highly recommend it but while the human spirit perseveres, there is little joy. I don’t care. I will probably listen to it again. I miss the characters already. Bravo, Mr. Stegner.

Stegner’s best

The epic story of the early 20th Century American West, the beauty, the harshness, the extra legal livelihoods of those struggling to survive. Written in the most beautiful American prose, the book sings with the magnetic resonance of the vast open West and the heroic people who settled the wilderness. An American classic.

Epic Brilliant Masterpiece!!!

Grateful for the beauty, depth, breadth of this Americana story. Bramhall narration absolutely perfect, musical, lyrical. The sensitivity and depth of how each character is developed during this epic story is incredible. Masterpiece!!!

a masterpiece

A disfunctional family struggling through hard times, as seen throught he eyes of each member of the family. The best story I have listened to all year.

Great listen.

The character and relationship development was very well done, but seemed a bit long. Excellent.

Surprisingly Engaging

A wonderful piece of American History done here in a character study of an imperfect man and the woman who loved him. A scant 80 to 100 years ago life was fraught with unspeakable hardships. This is a very interesting, thoughtful and engaging tale of a family doing what they must to endure in the hard life of the American Northwest.

I recommend this book very highly; you will not be able to put it down.

Very enjoyable

You have to be patient and in for the long ride. But in the end it was a very good listen. I recommend it. The Narrator was great !

Sometimes hard to keep listening

If you have ever lived with someone with a hair-trigger temper, this book may be hard for you to listen to. Several times I had to just turn it off for a while. There was "impending doom" through much of the book. Still, it was interesting and a good, well-written story.