In Beauty It Is Finished

In Beauty It Is Finished: Reflections on the Life and Work of Oliver La Farge is a hybrid biography of an American author best known for his novel Laughing Boy, winner of the 1930 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. A member of a prominent American family, La Farge's canon of 24 books is equally divided between fiction and nonfiction, and most of his work examines Native American life and culture. In Beauty It Is Finished is divided into four sections, each of which details La Farge's life in a specific locale: New England, New Orleans, New York, and New Mexico. The book also contains a Preface in which author Proal Heartwell examines the systemic racism of the Virginia of his youth. In particular, he looks at textbooks of the era and their depictions of Native American life. In the Afterword of the text, Mr. Heartwell explores works of contemporary Native American literature, and he compares the themes of these modern books with motifs found in La Farge's work.