Ghost Dancing: Short Fiction

by Anna Linzer

Overview

American Book Award Winner

A linked collection of stories about the lives of one Native American family in Washington state and Oklahoma

Story by graceful story, Ghost Dancing reveals the evolving worlds of Jimmy One Rock, his wife Mary, and their family as they struggle together on a decaying reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Alternating between Washington state and Jimmy's childhood on an Oklahoma reservation, these stories link past and present through memory, myth, ceremony, and a sly humor that undercuts the reverence of outsiders. In spare yet rich language, Anna Linzer creates a memorable portrait of contemporary Native American life.

Here is a collection as open and honest and authentic as the characters that it documents, appealing and accessible, as bittersweet as it is lovely. Readers of Joy Harjo, Leslie Marmon Silko, and N. Scott Momaday will discover these stories with pleasure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312204105
Publisher:	Picador
Publication date:	10/01/1999
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Anna Linzer (Lenape) lives on the Suquamish Indian Reservation in Indianola, Washington. Her stories have been published in Kenyon Review, Carolina Quarterly, the anthology Storytellers, and elsewhere. Ghost Dancing is her first book.

Editorial Reviews

Linzer illustrates cultural pain through art and careful detail.” —San Diego Union-Tribune

“[A] powerful first book . . . Linzer's prowess arises from her ability to convey the authenticity of Jimmy's economic deprivation as well as his spiritual wealth with honesty and humor.” —Library Journal

“Drum tight with spare, imagistic prose, these stories are tough, touching, and humorous . . . Anna Linzer's fine stories call to mind the early works of Leslie Silko and Sherman Alexie,” —Craig Lesley, author of The Sky Fisherman

From the Publisher

Linzer draws upon her experience living on the Suquamish Indian Reservation in Washington State for her heartfelt, informative but rather pallid first collection. These 11 interconnected stories concern Jimmy One Rock, a Lenape (or Delaware) Indian, and shift back and forth between Washington, where he now lives, and his childhood spent in Oklahoma--to which the Delaware were removed from the Northeast more than a century ago. The pieces reflect Jimmy's journey of self-discovery as he learns about his people, his identity and the harsh reality of being a Native American in the contemporary U.S. The impact of Christianity upon Native cultures also figures centrally. Although Linzer captures certain aspects of modern Native life and history, her account lacks nuance, relying instead on sentimental regret and hackneyed images of loss, alcoholism, suffering and death. Compared to her eye for the surface details of reservation life, Linzer's grasp of the heart is tentative and inexact. Author tour; U.K. translation and dramatic rights to Sobel Weber. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The setting for Linzer's powerful first book alternates between the Pacific Northwest and Oklahoma, seemingly dissimilar locales linked by the stories and experiences of the protagonist and his Native American kin. Jimmy One Rock spent his childhood on an Oklahoma reservation, and he visits Washington State because it is his wife Mary's home. The issue of "home" is also complicated by the omnipresent fact that as a Lenape, Jimmy belongs to a tribe driven out of the Northeast by whites long ago. The stories comprising this collection make a strong impact when taken individually, yet are closely enough linked to function together somewhat like a short novel. Spirits, kinship, legends, and ceremonies repeat as elements, unifying the works. Linzer's prowess arises from her ability to convey the authenticity of Jimmy's economic deprivation as well as his spiritual wealth with honesty and humor. Recommended for all libraries.--Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of Oregon Libs., Eugene

Library Journal