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4.0 out of 5 stars
A good primer on the works of Louis Owens., Oct 24 2003
By A Customer
This book-length examination of Owens' fiction is a very good beginning in what one hopes will eventually become a well-rounded area of study of the complete works of Louis Owens. A great more needs to be written about this talented author who produced hundreds of little-known but wonderful mainstream newspaper and magazine articles, magnificent scholarly discourse on Steinbeck in particular and American literature in general, and most importantly, on American Indian literature. With all of this to establish his reputation as a scholar, Owens wrote achingly witty novels, and it is enough at this time that LaLonde chose to discuss those novels. In his tragically truncated life Owens wrote five finely-crafted novels, two autobiographical collections of essays (_Mixedblood Messages_ and _I Hear the Train_), and the single best examination of American Indian literature that exists today (_Other Destinies: Understanding American Indian Literature_). Not to mention the stunningly on-target discourse about the works of John Steinbeck included in two early books (_The Grapes of Wrath--Trouble In the Promised Land_ and _Steinbeck's Re-Vision of America_). In his 54 years Owens produced so much material, in fact, that anyone writing about him has to make some important decisions early, and LaLonde made a good choice with the fiction, because for interested readers, it is the easiest of Owens' works to get access to. LaLonde has done close readings of each novel, with the exception of _Dark River_, which was not out (or not out long) when LaLonde's text was finished. Arguably Owens' most complex book, _Dark River_ is discussed in less detail as LaLonde's brief exposure to it allowed. LaLonde provides a good starting point as the scholar who is known in American Indian literary circles as the first to publish any academic essay about Owens (in this instance, about his first novel, _Wolfsong_--which appears in revised form in _Grave Concerns_). LaLonde's work with _Sharpest Sight_ and _The Bone Game_ is particularly good.
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