SOURCE: “‘The Gleaming Obsidian Shard’: Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres,” in Midamerica, Vol. 19, 1992, pp. 127–37.

In the following essay, Bakerman discusses Smiley's vision of life in A Thousand Acres.

The dustjacket of Jane Smiley's fine new novel, A Thousand Acres, features a beautiful Amish quilt done in red, tan, and black horizontal stripes, its main decoration the neat, disciplined patterns stitched into the plain fabrics.¹ A color publicity still depicts Smiley standing before a vivid, multi-hued Iowa quilt of intricate design and construction.² This quilt's exploitation of depth and its strong vertical and horizontal statements capture the viewer's attention initially. Closer examination, however, reveals that pinwheels also swirl across its surface.

In their varying ways, both quilts make wonderful symbols for A Thousand Acres. The Amish quilt suggests simplicity, beauty, and order, the fabled surface serenity of the agricultural society which is Smiley's topic. The Iowa quilt is much...