What happens when you cross a cowboy movie, a book on American history, and the nastiest episode of The Jerry Springer Show you've ever seen? Well, you get Wallace Stegner's novel Angle of Repose, of course.

Published in 1971, Angle of Repose is widely seen as Stegner's masterpiece—the thing won a gosh-darned Pulitzer Prize, after all. Stegner was actually a renaissance man in his time: he was a historian, novelist, and one of the founders of the American environmentalist movement. In other words, he's exactly the kind of dude you're hoping to find on Tinder.

Angle of Repose actually blends all three of Stegner's passions. First, it channels his experience as a historian, as it covers—in detail—roughly 100 years of American history. Second, it channels his experience as an environmentalist, as the novel is steeped in beautiful natural imagery and sophisticated environmentalist views. Finally, it channels his experience as a novelist because, well, it's simply an awesome book.

In the novel, we follow Lyman Ward, an ex-historian (sound familiar?) who's about to start the most ambitious project of his life: a partially fictionalized account of his grandparents' lives. Those grandparents—Oliver and Susan—were actually pretty stellar people: Oliver was a groundbreaking pioneer and engineer, while Susan was the most successful female artist of her time.

Naturally, Oliver and Susan's life is anything but easy. We see them struggle to adapt to the reality of life in the Wild West. We watch them fight to overcome seemingly endless financial hardships. And, sadly, we watch as this once-loving marriage devolves into an unhappy detente. Although the story of Angle of Repose isn't exactly heartwarming at times, you'll find that you'll learn a lot about what to do—and, more importantly, what not to do—with your life and your relationships by witnessing the struggles of the Ward family.

Although Angle of Repose seems like it's all about American history, it's actually about a subject much nearer and dearer to our hearts—love.

As it happens, love can be a tricky thing. Sometimes, we feel like Oliver Ward: head over heels in love with our favorite person in the whole world but completely incapable of showing it. Sometimes, we feel like Susan Ward: torn between equally strong feelings toward two equally hunky hunks. And, sometimes, we even feel like Lyman: so bitter about our past relationships that we don't even believe in true love anymore.

Although it isn't always pretty, Angle of Repose reveals the consequences—both good and bad—of these lovesick feelings. Oliver learns that communication might be the most important part of a relationship. Susan learns that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. And Lyman learns that if love is a battlefield, he'd better become a five-star general, fast.

If nothing else, you can look at Angle of Repose as a guide for how not to act in a relationship. Trust us on this one—your future bae will greatly appreciate it.