Synopses & Reviews
The best stories create traditions, and this novel by celebrated Native American writer Gerald Vizenor is a marvelous conjunction of trickster stories and literary ingenuity.
Chair of Tears is funny, fierce, ironic, and deadly serious, a sendup of sacred poses, cultural pretensions, and familiar places from reservations to universities. The novel begins with generous stories about Captain Eighty, his young wife, the poker-playing genius named Quiver, and their children and grandchildren who live on a rustic houseboat.
Captain Shammer, an extraordinary grandson reared on the houseboat and with no formal education, is appointed the chairman of a troubled Department of Native American Indian Studies at a prominent university. Shammer is a natural enterpriser and ironic showman in the tradition of trickster stories. He arrives at the first faculty meeting dressed in the uniform of Gen. George Armstrong Custer. Native students celebrate his conversion of the department into an academic poker parlor and casino, and a panic radio station. The most sensational enterprise is the training of service mongrels to detect the absence of irony.
An irresistible novel of original ideas, Chair of Tears gets to the heart of questions about identity politics, multiculturalism, pedantry, and timely virtues.
Review
"An intriguing, fun, and intelligent read."—Publishers Weekly
Review
"Chair of Tears is challengingly innovative and comfortingly familiar, satirically biting and laugh-out-loud funny."—Debroah L. Madsen, Studies in American Indian Literatures
Review
"In Chair of Tears Gerald Vizenor hands us a pitch-perfect send-up not only of Native American studies departments but of academia in general, the gaming industry and the publishing business."—Holly Carver, Wapsipinicon Almanac
Review
and#8220;Mr. Manfredand#8217;s novel carries the feel of open country, of grass and wind, sun and rain, moonlight and starlight. . . . It is harshly real.and#8221;and#8212;New York Herald Tribuneand#160;and#160;
Review
and#8220;Manfred has woven a wondrously complex story of a young Sioux warriorand#8217;s search for the inner core of manhoodand#8217;s dignityand#8212;the ability to live with oneself.and#8221;and#8212;
San Francisco Chronicleand#160;
Review
and#8220;Here is Indian lore, humor, customs, daily life, religion, identification with natureand#8212;and superb endurance in full detail, color, and understanding. Strenuousand#8212;and satisfying.and#8221;and#8212;Kirkus Reviewsand#160;and#160;
Review
and#8220;His narrative has in it both the kick of actual life and the power of vision. . . . A fine and attractive story.and#8221;and#8212;
New York TimesReview
“One of Frances most talented writers, Laurent Mauvignier always kept a low profile on the literary scene—until his stunning novel about the Algerian War became a runaway bestseller.”—
France Today
Review
“
The Wound gives us a France that few American readers will recognize, a land and a people marked by a history in which memory and violence can seem indistinguishable. . . . David and Nicole Balls translation is as elegant as a flick-knife—a superb version of this viscerally important novel.”—Michael Gorra, author of
Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece
Review
“[Mauvignier is] one of the major French writers today.”—
Lire Magazine Review
“The principal merit of Kettly Marss novel
Savage Seasons is in making us feel a dictatorships intimate grip on its subjects. . . .
Savage Seasons is a novel about the widespread abandonment of freedom by a society that has become
macoute, where dictatorship leads to collective, accepted madness.”—Christian Tortel,
Le Monde
Review
“A breathless novel that combines fiction and reality with both dexterity and pugnacity.”—Brune
Review
“A fine feminist and political novel that plunges into a country where ‘nobody dies a natural death. As she reveals the mechanisms of this totalitarian regime, Kettly Mars confirms the energy of Haitian literature, which includes, besides Dany Laferrière or Lyonel Trouillot, remarkable women as well.”—Le Nouvel Observateur
Review
“[Savage Seasons] makes clear the Haitian misfortune beyond pathetic clichés for those who want to understand a country that suffers not only from the cruelty of nature but also from the violence of political history.”—La Vie
Review
“Without concessions and writing in an incisive style, [Kettly Mars] claims the wealth of her multicultural heritage as she at the same time denounces its quirks.”—Le Quotidien du Medecin
Synopsis
A novella set in the House of David religious colony that bubbles with mystery, scandal, and little-known history.
Synopsis
In 1903, a preacher named Benjamin Purnell and five followers founded a colony called the House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where they prepared for eternal life by creating a heaven on earth. Housed in rambling mansions and surrounded by lush orchards and vineyards, the colony added a thousand followers to its fold within a few years, along with a zoo, extensive gardens, and an amusement park. The sprawling complex, called Eden Springs, was a major tourist attraction of the Midwest. The colonists, who were drawn from far and wide by the magnetic "King Ben," were told to keep their bodies pure by not cutting their hair, eating meat, or engaging in sexual relations. Yet accounts of life within the colony do not reflect such an austere atmosphere, as the handsome, charming founder is described as loving music, dancing, a good joke, and in particular, the company of his attractive female followers.
In Eden Springs, award-winning Michigan author Laura Kasischke imagines life inside the House of David, in chapters framed by real newspaper clippings, legal documents, and accounts of former colonists. Told from the perspective of the young women who were closest to Benjamin Purnell, the novella follows a growing scandal within the colony's walls. A gravedigger has seen something suspicious in a recently buried casket, a loyal assistant to Benjamin is plotting a cover-up, talk is swirling about unmarried girls having babies, and a rebellious girl named Lena is ready to tell the truth. In flashbacks and first-person narrative mixed with historical artifacts, Kasischke leads readers through the unraveling mystery in a lyrical patchwork as enticing and satisfying as the story itself.
Eden Springs lets readers inside the enchanting and eerie House of David, with an intimate look at its hedonistic highs and eventual collapse. This novella will appeal to all readers of fiction, as well as those with an interest in Michigan history.
Synopsis
A novella set in the House of David religious colony that bubbles with mystery, scandal, and little-known history.
In 1903, a preacher named Benjamin Purnell and five followers founded a colony called the House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where they prepared for eternal life by creating a heaven on earth. Housed in rambling mansions and surrounded by lush orchards and vineyards, the colony added a thousand followers to its fold within a few years, along with a zoo, extensive gardens, and an amusement park. The sprawling complex, called Eden Springs, was a major tourist attraction of the Midwest. The colonists, who were drawn from far and wide by the magnetic "King Ben," were told to keep their bodies pure by not cutting their hair, eating meat, or engaging in sexual relations. Yet accounts of life within the colony do not reflect such an austere atmosphere, as the handsome, charming founder is described as loving music, dancing, a good joke, and in particular, the company of his attractive female followers.
In Eden Springs, award-winning Michigan author Laura Kasischke imagines life inside the House of David, in chapters framed by real newspaper clippings, legal documents, and accounts of former colonists. Told from the perspective of the young women who were closest to Benjamin Purnell, the novella follows a growing scandal within the colony's walls. A gravedigger has seen something suspicious in a recently buried casket, a loyal assistant to Benjamin is plotting a cover-up, talk is swirling about unmarried girls having babies, and a rebellious girl named Lena is ready to tell the truth. In flashbacks and first-person narrative mixed with historical artifacts, Kasischke leads readers through the unraveling mystery in a lyrical patchwork as enticing and satisfying as the story itself.
Eden Springs lets readers inside the enchanting and eerie House of David, with an intimate look at its hedonistic highs and eventual collapse. This novella will appeal to all readers of fiction, as well as those with an interest in Michigan history.
Synopsis
High on a remote butte, a young Sioux waits. Though daring in battle, skillful, and strong, he cannot be a man until his spiritual vision comes. When it appears, he must interpret it correctly to know who he is, and he must deserve it or continue to be called No Name.
No Name has his vision, a glowing white mare who walks among the stars. She tells No Name his destiny and how to achieve it. He must pass through hostile camps, storm, and fire, risking his life many times to become Conquering Horse, chief of the Sioux.
Conquering Horse is the first of Frederick Manfredand#8217;s five-volume series, The Buckskin Man Tales.
Synopsis
“Where is your wound?” asks Jean Genet in the lines Laurent Mauvignier uses as an epigraph to
The Wound. By the time we have finished this four-part novel, we realize that for many the wound lies four decades back in “the Events” that people have tried to not talk about ever since: the Algerian War.
Chronicling the lives of two cousins—Bernard and Rabut—both in the present and at the time of the Algerian War of Independence in the 1960s, we get a full picture of the lasting effects this event had on the men who were involved. Through the fragments of their stories we see the whole history of the war: its atrocities, its horrors, and its hatreds. Mauvignier shows readers how the Algerian War, always present yet always repressed, has sickened the emotional and moral life of everyone it touched—and France itself, perhaps. The epigraph, like the novel, suggests that wounded men may even become the wound itself.
Synopsis
Port-au-Prince, the 1960s: Duvalier and his militia are systematically eliminating opponents to the regime. Daniel Leroy, editor in chief of the opposition newspaper, has just been arrested. To find out what has become of him, his wife, Nirvah, visits Raoul Vincent, secretary of state at the Office of Public Safety. This fearsome head of the secret police is instantly smitten, and to ensure her husbands survival and protect her family, Nirvah submits to the officials desires. Becoming the mistress of a strongman in the regime is not without its benefits. Still, she has to endure her neighbors inquisitive looks and the silent questions of her own children.
Kettly Marss Savage Seasons describes a pivotal and painful period in Haitian history by weaving together two stories: the personal story of Nirvah and her family and the universal story of Duvaliers dictatorial regime and its abuses.
Synopsis
Willa Cather said that
O Pioneers! was her first authentic novel, “the first time I walked off on my own feet—everything before was half real and half an imitation of writers whom I admired.” Cathers novel of life on the Nebraska frontier established her reputation as a writer of great note and marked a significant turning point in her artistic development. No longer would she let literary convention guide the form of her writing; the materials themselves would dictate the structure.
Cathers O Pioneers! is the sentimental and somewhat controversial story of the Bergsons, a family of Swedish pioneers that settles for life on the American prairie. While Alexandra, the family matriarch, is able to turn the family farm into a financial success, her brother Emil must grapple with the solace and tragedy of forbidden love. A novel surprisingly ahead of its time, this protofeminist work touches on a wide range of enduring themes, including love, marriage, temptation, and isolation.
About the Author
Frederick Manfred (1912and#8211;94) grew up on a farm in Iowa with six brothers, attended Calvin College in Michigan, and then hitchhiked for two years across America, which provided him with rich materials for his writing. His twenty-five novels include the five-volume series The Buckskin Man Tales, of which
Lord Grizzly and
Scarlet Plume are also available in Bison Books editions. Manfred also published volumes of poetry, short stories, and essays. Delbert E. Wylder (1923and#8211;2004) was one of the founding members of the Western Literature Association and is the author of
Popular Westerns and
Emerson Hough. Charles L. Woodard is a distinguished professor of English at South Dakota State University and the author of
Peril and Promise: Essays on Community in South Dakota and Beyond.