In the following excerpt, the critics survey Stegner's short fiction, paying particular attention to "The Women on the Wall" and "Field Guide to the Western Birds."

In the following interview, Etulain helps Stegner probe into his formative years as a fiction writer, including his work on the first short stories and Remembering Laughter.

In this excerpt, the critic explores the dualities of civilization and nature and life and death in Stegner's short stories and critiques the author's writing techniques.

In the following essay, Ellis examines the life-in-death and death-in-life metaphor in the story "Maiden in a Tower. " The critic also argues that literary reference in this story to The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Faust help explain the importance of the unconsummated sexual encounter that the main character Kimball remembers and why this constitutes a "failure" on Kimball's part.

In the essay below, Zahlan studies how the main characters in "The Traveler" and "City of the Living" react to the foreign places to which they travel and how each reacts to the threat of illness and disease very differently.

In the following essay, Stegner recreates the experience of writing "The Women on the Wall, " describing how the story came to him and how he developed the plot.

In the following essay, Stegner discusses the work of the serious fiction writer who he calls "a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life."

In the following excerpted survey of Stegner's short fiction, Eisinger declares the author indecisive.

Here, Klinkenborg praises Stegner's traditional narrative style and discusses Stegner as a "Western writer."

In the following assessment of Collected Stories, Tyler praises Stegner's tales, calling them "as solid as good furniture" and naming Stegner a master of the short story form.

In this review the critic admires Stegner's skill at presenting single moments in people's lives poetically and powerfully.

In the following estimation of Collected Stories, Garrett appreciates Stegner's ability to present, with equal believability, a wide range of characters and situations.

Below, Kimball writes that Stegner is "quintessential^ an American writer, " and notes that Stegner is very successful in presenting the struggles of the individual