- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (Mar 15 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0806127376
- ISBN-13: 978-0806127378
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.5 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,010,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
In the Cascade Range of northwest Washington, Tom Joseph, a young Indian who had gone south to attend college, returns for his uncle's funeral and finds himself caught up in the old man’s fight to save the wilderness from destruction. In his first novel, Louis Owens exposes the raw edge of the current American land-rights controversy and poses questions about authenticity and the common bonds that American Indians, of very different or mixed backgrounds, are in the process of discovering today.
About the Author
Louis Owens, who is of Choctaw-Cherokee-Irish descent, is Professor of English at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of several books, including Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel and the novels The Sharpest Sight and Bone Game, all published by the University of Oklahoma Press.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
The rain fell onto the downswept branches and collected and fell to the hard undergrowth with a steady hammering. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The rain fell onto the downswept branches and collected and fell to the hard undergrowth with a steady hammering. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wolfsong,
By
This review is from: Wolfsong: A Novel (Paperback)
This is not a politically correct book.It challenges ideas of Native "authenticity" and gives short shrift to out-of-town environmentalists (rather shorter shrift than I entirely agreed with, in fact). When Tom decides to act against a copper mine, he does so not out of simplistic ideological purity but because of a complex of reasons, largely having to do with his own identity. (And he was uncritically working as a logger before that.) Nevertheless, this is a profoundly environmentalist novel, with intensely beautiful descriptions of wilderness. It's an environmentalist novel because of the unbreakable connection it creates between humans and their environment and because of its challenge to the ideals of short-term profit. (At the same time, the problems of poverty are never glossed over.) Owens wrote beautifully and incorporated stunning passages of magic realism. Tom is a believable character--confused, irresponsible (college drop-out), lonely, fierce, and ultimately heroic in the same way animals are in those old Western novels where wolves and mustangs leap off cliffs rather than be captured.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wolfsong,
By K. Freeman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wolfsong: A Novel (Paperback)
This is not a politically correct book.It challenges ideas of Native "authenticity" and gives short shrift to out-of-town environmentalists (rather shorter shrift than I entirely agreed with, in fact). When Tom decides to act against a copper mine, he does so not out of simplistic ideological purity but because of a complex of reasons, largely having to do with his own identity. (And he was uncritically working as a logger before that.) Nevertheless, this is a profoundly environmentalist novel, with intensely beautiful descriptions of wilderness. It's an environmentalist novel because of the unbreakable connection it creates between humans and their environment and because of its challenge to the ideals of short-term profit. (At the same time, the problems of poverty are never glossed over.) Owens wrote beautifully and incorporated stunning passages of magic realism. Tom is a believable character--confused, irresponsible (college drop-out), lonely, fierce, and ultimately heroic in the same way animals are in those old Western novels where wolves and mustangs leap off cliffs rather than be captured. 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loggers, miners and environmentalists in a literary novel.,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wolfsong: A Novel (Paperback)
It is the "forks" in the river and the road for the citizens of Forks,a small town which perviously had logging money running through its veins, but now it is considering an infusion of mining dollars as the mills close down. Native American Tom Joseph returns home to attend his uncle's funeral and to unconsciously assume the mantle of trickster and to learn what drove his uncle to acts of ecoterrorism and monkeywrenching. Readers will get a true feel for the temperate rain forests of Western Washington while reading this novel, and may be tempted to don a slicker or their climbing boots by the time it is finished. Owens lets the reader decide many of the outcomes in this novel, though the meaning is always clear, the humor is rampant and the small town was probably a role model for Northern Exposure, right down to troubled sexy waitress and a fly bouncing around in the pie case.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Howl over what could still happen in the Cascade Mountains!,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wolfsong (Paperback)
Wolfsong is a cautionary tale of what could potentially happenin the North Cascades. Congress conveniently neglected to ban mining in wilderness areas where old claims were established. This is Owens' cry of alarm: don't even consider mining in places like this. Wolfsong is told through the eyes of a local Native American, Tom Josephs, who inherits the mantle of protector of this sacred place from his uncle. Funny, insightful, true to the environment and the community, this book deserves a place on the shelf next to Desert Solitaire and the Monkey Wrench Gang |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Criticism & Theory
- Books > Literature & Fiction > United States
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Special Groups > Native American Studies
- Books > Outdoors & Nature > Conservation
- Books > Outdoors & Nature > Environment > Conservation
- Books > Science > Nature & Ecology > Environment > Conservation
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
