Dream Wheels

by Richard Wagamese

Overview

Champion bull-rider Joe Willie Wolfchild is poised to win the most sought after title in rodeo when a devastating accident at the National Finals leaves his body and ambitions in tatters. Unsure of what else to do, he retires to the panoramic family ranch, Wolfcreek, to mend.

Claire Hartley and her fifteen-year-old son Aiden have nearly been torn apart by abusive boyfriends and an unjust world when a friend sends them to the Wolfchild ranch. Thrown together by terrible circumstance, it appears Aiden and Joe Willie have more in common than their childhoods would suggest. After a rocky start, they strike a deal: Aiden will help Joe Willie repair his ’34 Ford V8 pickup if the former champion teaches the city kid how to ride a bull. As Wagamese reveals their story, he rewrites the history of the American cowboy.

In taut, muscular prose, Wagamese explores how independence, self-determination, and a return to cultural tradition can heal body, mind, and community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781571311177
Publisher:	Milkweed Editions
Publication date:	05/10/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	418
Sales rank:	485,822
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Richard Wagamese is one of Canada’s foremost writers, and one of the leading Native writers in North America. The author of eight previous novels, including the acclaimed Medicine Walk, which has garnered high critical praise, Wagamese has been honored with the 2012 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media & Communications and the Molson Prize for the Arts in 2013. He lives in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Read an Excerpt

Dream Wheels

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By Wagamese, Richard

St. Martin's Press

Copyright © 2006 Wagamese, Richard
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0312359268

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Joe Willie had always ridden as a matter of fact. From the time he could remember he had been straddling something, from his father's bouncing thigh in the living room to the pony at three, the sheep at mutton busting at four, the horses at six, the steers at eight, and finally, the bulls at ten. Sticking and staying had come to him as naturally as walking and riding, lunging out of the chute on a bareback horse, a saddle bronc, or a bull like the champion Brahma cross beneath him now, was merely the definition of a life, a cowboy life bred in his Ojibway-Sioux bones as surely as this rodeo grew out of the old Wild West shows his great-grandfather had whooped and hollered and ridden in alongside old Buffalo Bill himself.
He heaved a deep, rib-expanding breath and let it go slowly. Beneath him the bull shuddered once then settled into a curious quiet. They sat there connected by the bull rope and one gloved hand, waiting. There was a smell in the air. Joe Willie shook his head once quickly to clear it, shivered his legs against the bull's sides, raised his right arm slowly to clear the top rail of the chute and nodded solemnly to the rope man at the front of the chute.
And the world exploded.

---from Dream Wheels

Continues...

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Excerpted from Dream Wheels by Wagamese, Richard Copyright © 2006 by Wagamese, Richard. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Wagamese (Keeper N' Me) threads Native Canadian lore and spirituality into his generous and sentimental Western. Rodeo bull rider Joe Willie Wolfchild, eight seconds away from becoming the #1 ranked "All-Round Cowboy," suffers a career-ending accident that leads him to retreat to the family ranch, where his parents, grandparents and physiotherapist try to coax him back onto his feet. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Aiden Hartley, a disaffected city kid jailed for his role in a botched armed robbery, and his abused mother, Claire, are shepherded by a sympathetic cop (who happens to be a friend of the Wolfchilds) to the Wolfchild ranch, where they can mend their fractured relationship and get Aiden on a better track. Claire takes to the country life and to the Wolfchilds, who represent the stability she's always wanted. Aiden, not one for the "yippee cay-yay" stuff, locks horns with Joe Willie until the similarities in their warrior spirits bring them together. Aiden helps Joe Willie restore a '34 Ford pickup, and Joe Willie teaches Aiden to ride bulls. From there, the narrative grows predictably uplifting, and Wagamese's tendency to carry on (and on) about the romance of cowboy life wears thin. But the novel remains a worthy testament to the healing power of family and tradition. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The life of a rodeo cowboy takes on a spiritual cast in this story about a Native American bull rider who overcomes a tragedy with the help of his family and an unlikely friend. Joe Willie Wolfchild is the best rodeo rider there is-until he is thrown by a bull. With one arm destroyed and one leg crushed, Joe returns to his family's ranch to heal, his career over. Meanwhile, in a city a world away are Aiden Hartley, a hardened teenager drawn toward the power of crime, and his mother, Claire, who seeks an elusive stability in one man after another. While Joe grapples with his physical disabilities, Aiden spends a year in jail for planned robbery. Their lives converge when Aiden's youth officer arranges for Aiden and Claire to spend three weeks working on the Wolfchilds' ranch. Although the plot is predictable, the narrative is poetic and spiritual, giving depth to what could have been a trite story. Wagamese (For Joshua) draws on Native American teachings and the beauty of nature to illustrate the healing power of tradition and the land. Recommended for public libraries.-Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Univ. Law Lib., Malibu, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A serene, beautiful debut that brings together a busted-up rodeo rider and a teenaged ex-con who help each other heal at a family ranch in the Wild Canadian West. Joe Willie Wolfchild has been a champion rodeo rider since childhood, but his ride on the infamous bull See Four leaves him so battered and maimed that he is forced to retire. He retreats to his Ojibway grandparents' Wolf Creek ranch, where he is nursed by his Sioux mother, Johanna. Meanwhile, in a bleak suburb, 15-year-old Aiden Hartley drifts into a dangerous life of gangs, drugs and robbery, spurred by the trauma of seeing his black mother, Claire, beaten up by her white boyfriend. Aiden winds up in jail for two years, during which Claire extricates herself from the abusive boyfriend and starts a new life. When Aiden finishes doing his time, a sympathetic youth detective arranges a recuperative stay for him at Wolf Creek. Closed up within himself, Joe Willie is absorbed in trying to fix an old family truck given to him by his father, while Aiden is cocky and hostile. These two stubborn, wounded souls circle each other warily, drawn closer by Aiden's startling natural propensity for riding. They come to an agreement: The boy will help Joe Willie fix his truck, and in return, the older man will teach him how to ride a bull-but not until Aiden becomes hardened by cowboy life, which includes punishing hikes up Iron Mountain and an encounter with a bear. And Johanna helps Claire restore her relationship with her son by sharing the healing ways of the Sioux. Wagamese, himself an Ojibway from northwestern Ontario, delineates with skill and dignity these stoical lives shaped by the land of their ancestors. Uncomplicated and unforced,allowing layers of faith to unfold with a natural grace and wisdom.

Kirkus Reviews

Richard Wagamese is a born storyteller and Dream Wheels is his finest book yet. Cover to cover a ripping read.”
—Louise Erdrich

“A three-pronged story of redemption, kinship and healing. . . . Dream Wheels’s. . .wisdom is not community specific. It’s universal.”
—The Gazette (Montreal)

“Compelling. . . . With an opening passage reminiscent of Faulkner . . . Dream Wheels will delight cowboy literature fans, readers looking for a gorgeous turn of phrase, those interested in Native culture, or anyone simply after an engaging and satisfying story.”
—Calgary Herald

“A touching, life-affirming tale. . . . Wagamese is capable of true grace on the page.”
—Winnipeg Free Press

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