My Antonia is beautifully written and has all the pieces to make a Great American Novel, including immigrants pursuing the American Dream, veneration of the land, and pioneerism, to name a few. Perhaps its only defect is that it is so little like a novel, aside from being incredibly romantic and sentimental. If one’s life from childhood to middle age is a plot, I suppose this book has one. Otherwise, it’s a collection of stories with a central cast of characters to tie them all together.