Product Description
This volume seeks to enrich teachers' and students' understanding of the fictional world Louise Erdrich creates and to address the challenges of teaching her novels and poetry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Helpful Insights to Erdrich's Work
This book is especially useful for someone who may not be able to identify all of the illusions to Native American culture in Erdrich's work.It also provides helpful summaries of her main works with a list of themes and questions to discuss as well as a family tree that comes in handy for anyone having a problem keeping all of Erdrich's characters straight.For teachers planning on using any of Erdrich's books or any Native American literature in their classroom, there is also a long list of suggested background reading that serves as an introduction to Native American culture. ... Read more

Product Description
John Tanner's fascinating autobiography tells the story of a man torn between white society and the Native Americans with whom he identified. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Love this book
I read this book twice. It is history and the plight of pioneers. Here is a man who was taken from his heritage against his will and traded to a Indian band. He was mistreated. He never had the opportunity to grow up with parents that would send him to school, never had the love of his birth mother or the strong hand of his father. He never knew his siblings. But he had an inner strength that would see him grow up to be a fine hunter, unafraid in a wild land, no cry baby here. I never knew him but wished I had. I see his profile and his strength in his great-grand daughter my grandmother.

Hindsight into foresight
I have read the Tanner book also.

Itwas an eye opener as to the kindness and depravity of peoples.

I wish history had been this interesting in school. I think I learned more from this book and Andrew Durnford , another Daudert book,than I did in any history or sociology class.

Both books gave me history lessons that I didn't get in school.

The transparency that they provide into life of a different time is exemplary!

These reading let me see that my views of human nature are not too obscure!

Also a murder mystery!
John Tanner's narrative, as related to Dr. Edwin James, deserves the five star rating it has received, and is well worth the price. A new edition of the book has just been published by Hansa-Hewlett Publishing Company. It contains the original introduction by Dr. James, an introduction by Charles Daudert, a short biography of Edwin James, M.D., and the other important persons in Tanner's life, many maps and photographs, and a completely new section on Tanner's life after publication of the book. See if you can solve the mystery of who killed James Schoolcraft: was it Tanner, Lt. Tilden, or someone else? Charles Daudert, Editor, Hansa-Hewlett Publishing company. Click on: The Narrative of John Tanner, the Falcon

a sad memoir of my ancestor, John Tanner
I bought this book because John Tanner is my ancestor. Stories had been told in my family here in Kentucky about our relative being captured by Indians, but I enjoyed absorbing this sad written tale of his life. It is not a happy tale, but a great historical read for any history buffs (he's there when Lewis and Clark go through on their Voyage of Discovery ).

A Rare and Valuable Cultural Record
In 1789 when he was a nine year-old boy, his mother already dead, John Tanner's family settled upon a Kentucky farm where the Big Miami and Ohio rivers meet.Shortly thereafter, this piece of "Dark and Bloody Ground" was visited by a Shawnee war party.Two Indians seized young Tanner and forcibly marched him north toward modern day Toledo, then up to Detroit.The child was taken further north to live with his captive family, made to work and bear burdens, purposely starved, frequently beaten, and at one point tomahawked for having fallen asleep in exhaustion.Two years of this cruel treatment was relieved when the boy was purchased in Mackinac by an old Ottawa woman, Net-no-kwa.This formidable human being was the leader of her band and with her John Tanner, now called Shaw-shaw-wa ne-ba-se (the Falcon), would roam throughout what would become northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Western Ontario and Manitoba, living primarily among Net-no-kwa's Ojibwa friends and relations.For the next thirty years he would hunt, trap, trade, marry and live entirely as an Indian, forgetting the English language andwhite man ways - though Tanner continued to face resentment and violence long into adulthood because of his white origin.These resentments and other intrigues eventually led Tanner to attempt a return to the States and a reunion with surviving family members, soon finding himself ill-suited to the white man's life and returning to the northern wilderness.He apparently related his life's story to a learned man among the Sault Sainte Marie traders shortly before disappearing again in 1846 amidst charges of murder (afterward disproved).The date and whereabouts of his death are unknown.

There are times when the narrative seems a relentless tale of brutality, privation and wrenching heartbreak, as Tanner and his band struggle for daily sustenance, suffer against wretched cold and hunger, fall to previously unknown illnesses and grievous injuries, and murder each other in drunken brawls and blood feuds.And then suddenly appear passages as stunning for the elegant and graceful simplicity in which they're related as for the events depicted.An extended passage (if I may) illustrates the point: "Pe-shau-ba, upon whom the death of his friend Waw-so had made some impression, was soon taken violently ill.He was conscious that his end was approaching, and very frequently told us he should not live long.One day he said to me, "I remember before I came to live in this world, I was with the Great Spirit above.And I often looked down, and saw men upon the earth.I saw many good and desirable things, and among others, a beautiful woman, and as I looked day after day at the woman he said to me, `Pe-shau-ba, do you love the woman you are so often looking at?'I told him I did.Then he said to me, `Go down and spend a few winters on earth.You cannot stay long, and you must remember to be always kind and good to my children whom you see below.'So I came down, but I have never forgotten what was said to me.I have always stood in the smoke between the two bands when my people fought with their enemies.I have not struck my friends in their lodges.I have disregarded the foolishness of young men who would have offended me, but have always been ready and willing to lead our brave men against the Sioux.I have always gone into battle painted black, as I now am, and I now hear the same voice that talked to me before I came to this world: it tells me I can remain no longer.To you, my brother, I have been a protector, and you will be sorry when I leave you; but be not like a woman, you will soon follow in my path."He then put on the new clothes I had given him to wear below, walked out of the lodge, looked at the sun, the sky, the lake, and the distant hills; then come in, and lay down composedly in his place in the lodge, and in a few minutes ceased to breathe."

Other rewarding passages include Tanner's encounter with the ghosts of two dead brothers at a riverside encampment; an illness so debilitating that a despairing Tanner attempts to end his life; and intrigue and violence during a river-borne effort to bring two of his children out of Indian country.Many of the troubles visited upon Tanner and his band are caused by his adoptive brother Wa-me-gon-a-biew, a cowardly but quarrelsome man, vindictive, unpredictable and capable of great violence.His nearly every appearance in the narrative is villainous.

Published many times, most recently by Penguin Classics, "The Falcon" transcends because it is not merely an "Indian captivity narrative", but a remarkable portrait of 1790s - 1830s Indian life and culture.We are very fortunate that it has survived.
... Read more

Product Description
From Booklist

Erdrich and Dorris currently share great success as a literary couple with their unique collaborative relationship. The editors have selected 25 interviews for this volume of the Literary Conversations series; together, the interviewers reveal some of the sources of the magic found in the fiction of these two fascinating writers. A striking characteristic surfaces from the slew of similar questions being asked and responded to again and again in these pages. If Erdrich and Dorris have forged a distinctive partnership--and it appears they have--it is due in part to their fearless acceptance of an unprecedented level of creative participation in each other's writing. Admirers should delight in fascinating glimpses of their work process and personal lives. --Alice Joyce ... Read more

Product Description
When grandmother sails away, she leaves behind a collection of birds' nest--and three eggs in one nest miraculously begin to hatch out passenger pigeon chicks.Amazon.com Review
The mystical and the natural blend superbly in this first children'sbook by the accomplished literary novelist Louise Erdrich. The eccentric,well-traveled grandmother of two young kids decamps in mid-vacation, riding aporpoise to Greenland and leaving behind a trove of strange treasures andartifacts including a collection of bird's nests and three old eggs whichhatch, marvelously, into passenger pigeons. Erdrich wields her NativeAmerican ancestry and her worldiness--Grandmother owns an original Klee--to give youngreaders a sense of the world's wonders and the wisdom of the elders, the oldwisdom of the natural cycles that we are losing. A letter from Grandmother,promising to return, winds up this fetching tale. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Grandmother's Pigeon
Outrageously imaginative story with an environmental message, set with real character in a loving relaxed family.
There is a beautiful symmetry between the text and the illustration, with one enhancing then leading the other. Why didn't this win an award?

Heartwarming
This is a wonderful book that has a special message of conservation and environmentalism.The characters are very appealing and the grandmother has a special magical gift within the story.This is a treasure to give your children or grandchildren.

a wonderful little book
Louise Erdrich is the author of the award winning novels Love Medicine and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse , amongst others. She is an incredibly gifted novelist. Grandmother's Pigeon is her first book for children.

I haven't read a book written specifically for children in well over a decade (Harry Potter and The Narnia series would be more for young adults and are suitable for adults on different levels), but Grandmother's Pigeon is a true children's book. It is only about 30 pages, half of which are illustrations. Like any good children's book, this one is mixed with the simple and the fantastic (perhaps all the more understandable considering Erdrich's American Indian heritage). The story is simple, a grandmother goes away on a trip and bird eggs are discovered in her room. When the eggs hatch, the birds turn out to be Passenger Pigeons (a long extinct species), three males. There is some commotion about the pigeons and finally they are released into the wild by the family. The fantastic comes in from the very start when Grandmother announces she is going to travel to Greenland on the back of a turtle and it is hinted the a stuffed animal toy pigeon may have been the cause of the mysterious eggs. It is a very sweet, charming story and I would imagine any child would enjoy reading this book.

A Bookful of Wonder
The illustrations in this book are wonderful and are a perfect compliment to this strange,comforting story of a loving family and the legacy of their magical grandmother. There are some subtle nuances that parents will pick up if they pay attention. This is a tale about ecology and love for free and wild creatures, with a bit of shamanism thrown in for good measure. There is humour here and wisdom. I love this book for the satisfying feeling of gentle wonder that I feel as I turn the last page and close the book. I recommend it to all with childish hearts.

wonderful illustrations, and unusual story.
helps to show children that people in their family can be different, but you still love them. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Erdrich's Work Needs and Deserves a Guide
I've been teaching Erdrich's fiction for a few years, and often have wished I could check my own sense of genealogy and character relationships. This guide does a good job of that, though it was published before THE LAST REPORT was published; we need an update to include that and subsequent works.

Genealogy and character "tracking" vs. literary analysis
In an attempt to "solve" readers' problems, Beidler and Barton have simplified the structure of Louise Erdrich's interlocking series of narratives (Tracks, Bingo Palace, Tales of Burning Love, Love Medicine)-- almost to a fault. In a painstaking but somehow wrong-headed exercise, they have straightened out the intricate and mysterious convolutions of Native American ancestry in these novels and recharted them as Western pedigrees. With similar de-mystifying intent, they have dogged each major and minor character through the entire series of novels and then collected every scrap of information in all the books under single headings bearing that chracter's name.While the authors should be complimented on their tenacity, the linear vision that permeates their "guide" is likely to send readers of Erdrich and other Native American storytellers in the wrong direction. This reductive study obscures rather than illuminates the magical power of Erdrich's asynchornous narrative fragments that loop and twist out of the reach of clock time into the realm of spirit. ... Read more

Product Description
In The Blue Jay's Dance,Louise Erdrich's first major work of nonfiction, she brilliantly and poignantly examines the joys and frustrations, the compromises and the insights, the difficult struggles and profound emotional satisfactions she experienced in the course of one twelve month period--from a winter pregnancy through a spring and summer of new motherhood to fall a return to writing.In exquisitely lyrical prose, Erdrich illuminates afresh the large and small events that mothers--parents--everywhere will recognize and appreciate.Amazon.com Review
Mothers often cling to single moments, small gestures, and specific memories in order to grasp all that happens in the first blurry year of a baby's life. InThe Blue Jay's Dance, writer Louise Erdrich has assembled a photo album of snapshots such as these: the days and images that collectively define the passion, ambivalence, yearnings, and satisfactions of carrying, birthing, and nurturing a baby. "Any sublime effort has its dark moments," says Erdrich, referring to a rather bleak snapshot of mother isolation. "Perhaps, if anything, the meaning in this book for others may be this: Here is a job in which it is not unusual to be, at the same instant, wildly joyous and profoundly stressed." The Blue Jay's Dance is a fresh and masterful book that avoids all the sticky clichés while still managing to articulate the depths of mother-baby love. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Blue Jay's Dance
After several e-mail conversations regarding the shipment of this product I still never received the book.Distributor claimed a second book was shipped and no longer responded to my e-mails requesting additional information for tracking with the shipping services.The first correspondence implied that the book would be sent, I really wish it had been.

The dance of birth
I have loved each if Louise Erdrich's books that I have read. Her warmth and heart come through perfectly in this journal of birth. She has been blessed by the same goddess who has nurtured every woman during her birthing times from time immemorial. Highly recommended to all women who love life. And all men who love them.

Excellent
A beauftifully written book about birth, motherhood, and nature. I read this book when I was 9 months pregnant, in preperation of my own upcomng birth year and I was not diasappointed. It is lyrical, profound, and prolific. You will especially enjoy this book if you are at all in awe of nature. The way she weaves it into the life cycle and observes and commments on the surroundings of her rural New Hampshire home painted a beautiful backdrop for her experiences of birthing and rearing an infant through the four seasons. I highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of family circumstances. It can be enjoyed by all as simply an incredibly well written, woman focused book.

great, honest book
Fine book, can be read again and again.Would be a great book to give an expecting mother or new mother.

insightful, spiritual (non-denominational) and helpful
It seems that a week doesn't go by when I see a woman on the subway or ina coffee shop reading a book from the What to Expect When You're Expectingseries.Those detailed tombs of writing seem to be sent to people planningor in the process of rearing children as if by storks.(I've even heard ofsome workplaces keeping the book What to Expect... in the human resourcessupply closet, to be given as a gift when a woman announces she'spregnant.)However, upon reading some chapters from those books andinformal discussions with mothers, a theme that reoccurs is that some womenwill explicitly instruct others not to read those books.Why?Not becausethey don't contain a plethora of knowledge but precisely because they do. That is, these can wind up really scaring a parent-to-be because theycontain all the zillions of possible physical and emotional things that cango wrong during pregnancy and the first years.I think everyone can agreethat raising the anxiety level, especially of a woman during pregnancy, isquite a less than desirable outcome.

What if there was a book thatspoke honestly about the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth and, moreimportantly, treated these experiences as natural events rather thanlisting all the possible things to be feared?Better yet, what if therewas a book that did all those things and spoke of the spiritual aspects ofpregnancy and children, in a gentle and non-denominational way?Well, abook with all those features and more is available in this book.

Erdrichis of Native American ancestry and a writer by profession.Her backgroundis rich with symbolism and spiritualism and is wonderful at weaving herstory into the passage of seasons.At times I felt I was really lookingthrough her eyes in the room where she wrote, looking out at a largepicture window in her remote rural home.She saw the lives of variouswildlife, from all types of birds to deer to wild dogs, intertwine with thepassage of time from the beginnings of her pregnancy through the first yearof her daughter's life.This book seems to be very realistic primarilybecause it does not compartmentalize pregnancy or infancy; Erdrich does notshy away from concurrent events in her life including changes inrelationship with her husband, observations of nature, memories from herown childhood and recipes she craves during pregnancy or for theirnurturing powers.

In more popular baby manual-type books, the subjectsof actual labor, sleep deprivation, nurturing "instincts," andpatience are sometimes glossed-over or described in such a way to possiblymake a parent feel guilty for not automatically possessing certainqualities.This is yet another way that Erdrich's book masterfullysucceeds as she lovingly and with understanding tackles these and otherimportant subjects.She describes with humor and passion of a"no-sleep week" by stating how she wanted to call 911 Emergencybecause her baby wouldn't sleep.She describes the situation: "Ithappens to be a long crying bout, nothing wrong physically, just growth,maybe teeth.Why knows?Sometimes babies just cry and cry... in my office,with her in the crib next to the desk, I break through a level ofsleep-deprived frustration so intense I think I'll burst, into a dimensionof surprising calm," (71).

Erdrich speaks of the "tender andgrueling task of rearing a newborn," (6) with such a fullness andrichness of spirit that I cannot help but be moved by her descriptions.Ihighly recommend this book not only to anyone personally consideringparenting but also to educators and anyone interested in the mutualdevelopment of a parent and an infant.I think it could also serve as anexcellent supplement for all students in any Infancy and Child Developmentcourse.The best summary for her book is by Erdrich herself.In theintroduction she states: "These pages are a personal search and anextended wondering at life's complexity.This is a book of conflict, abook of babyhood, a book about luck, cats, a writing life, wild places inthe world, and my husband's cooking.It is a book about he vitalitybetween mothers and infants, that passionate bond into which we pour thedirect expression of our being," (5). ... Read more

Product Description

In this important new collection, her first in fourteen years, award-winning author Louise Erdrich has selected poems from her two previous books of poetry, Jacklight and Baptism of Desire, and has added nineteen new poems to compose Original Fire.

Customer Reviews (3)

Not Poetry; Great Story Telling
Is it heresy to suggest that Louise Erdrich is a great story teller, in at least two ancient traditions (Native American, Roman Catholic liturgy), and not necessarily a poet? I became aware of her poetical work on Bill Moyers's last shows a month or so ago. They had an intense, engrossing, and very hopeful discussion centered on her poem, "Advice to Myself." I was amazed at the balance, the sanity of the conversation. Essentially: yes, we know the world at large and in particular is going to hell in a hand basket and the most anyone can do, world-wise, is to push back on the flood of insanity. But, the most powerful and personal thing we can do is to refuse to surrender to despair. The strength of character in these stories grows for that amazing place. True to both traditions, they're doggedly NOT about the teller, they're about the tale. Beautiful, evocative writing. And what happens when she converts the Desiderata from second person advice to first person? "Advice to Myself": ... Let the wind have its way, then the earth / that invades as dust and then the dead / foaming up in gray rolls under the couch. / Talk to them. Tell them they are welcome. ... And regarding the heresy? In Huckleberry Finn's immortal words, "I'll go to hell."

Magnificent, Soul-Stirring Poetry
I've read and enjoyed all of Erdrich's fiction and was eager to experience her poetry when I got this book.I was not disappointed in the least.

Her poems are rich, full of life, sparkling chunks of wisdom from a woman's life.My favorite poem was "Advice to Myself" in the chapter entitled "Original Fire". She captures the ephemeral nature of life so beautifully and eloquently.If you only purchase one book of poetry this year, make it this one!!

Erdrich's third volume of poetry
Original Fire is Louise Erdrich's third volume of poetry to be published.She is best known as an award winning novelist (Love Medicine, The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse), but is also an accomplished poet.This collection is not a completely original volume, however.It takes quite a few poems from her previous two volumes (Jacklight, Baptism of Desire) as well as some poems that have never before been published.

I'm not a huge fan of poetry, but since Louise Erdrich is my favorite author I'm willing to read the book.I enjoyed the poetry, but it didn't inspire me or speak to me or any of the other things that poetry is supposed to do.The best section of the book was the prose poems from Jacklight (I believe).The stories were interesting, funny, and made me want to keep reading.I'm not as knowledgeable about poetry as I am about other forms of literature, so I find it difficult to say it is good or bad poetry,but I would suggest that it is good.I enjoyed reading this collection, but I do feel that it is a less work compared to her novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Brilliant!
I first stumbled upon "Baptism of Desire" 8 years ago when I was pregnant with our first son.The work inspired me and I still refer to it often.Erdrich has a poignant and sensitive use of language.Although repitious in focus or theme each work peers from a unique corner of Erdrich's mind and is successful because it questions without diadatic overtones.In short it is honest.Brilliant.

confusion
If you decide to read this book, get ready to be reading the same poem over and over again. It is hard to understand at first, which is why my first impression of it was bad, but once you understand it, it's a prettydecent book of poems. The only odd part about it is it's random story inthe middle. So I say,if you like Erdrich, you'll like the book. ... Read more

Product Description
The Broom Closet explores the sacred, psychological, erotic, and sometimes murderous power of housework, using surprising examples from postfeminist novels by Louise Erdrich, Mary Gordon, Toni Morrison, Marge Piercy, Jane Smiley, and Amy Tan. By juxtaposing the novels and their authors' lives with general social and historical context, the book outlines the many ways domestic ritual continues to shape women's consciousness-and either foil or reflect women's creativity. ... Read more

Product Description
Dr. Lyons' study of comparative North American literatures is one of the first to compare Acadian Canadian and Native American writing. Largely unexplored, this branch of comparative literature offers much potential. Perhaps the most exciting part of this critical work is that it erases the divisions that separate the United States from Canada, in particular the linguistic and disciplinary boundaries that isolate writing in English from writing in French. ... Read more

Product Description

In the thick of the Turtle Mountains, inside one family`s little cabin, stood The Range Eternal. The woodburning stove provided warmth and comfort, delicious soups, and hot potatoes to warm cold hands on frozen winter mornings. It provided a glowing screen for a young girl`s imagination, and protection from the howling ice monsters in the night. But most of all, it was the true heart of the home-one the young girl never knew how much she would miss until it was gone. Louise Erdrich is the author of many acclaimed and best-selling books, including The Birchbark House, a National Book Award Finalist. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa and lives in Minneapolis. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, an award-winning illustration team, have collaborated on many picture books, including My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss; Cat, You Better Come Home by Garrison Keillor; Horsefly by Alice Hoffman; and Robin`s Room by Margaret Wise Brown.

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent
This book is wonderful.The artwork is colorful and the language is dynamic.It is a must have book.

not as good as Grandmother's Pigeon
The Range Eternal is Louise Erdrich's second children's book (the first being Grandmother's Pigeon).The story Erdrich tells is one of family and tradition (and an old stove).The story is told simply and well, and it is peppered with Native American legend and tradition.For this reason, I wonder if the book would not be better suited to Native children more than non-Native children.I have read Erdrich's novels, so I have a passing familiarity with terms like "Windigo", but I'm not sure most non-Native children would and this might confuse them.

While I am a fan of Erdrich's other work (including the young adult novel: The Birchbark House), this isn't a book that I would be excited to read to my children (when I have some).It isn't quite as accessible or has a simplistic enough feel to it.Maybe I'm not giving children enough credit, but I would recommend something like Alison McGhee's "Countdown to Kindergarten" over this one.Instead of this, you might want to give Erdrich's first children's book, "Grandmother's Pigeon", a try.It's much better.

Gorgeous book!
The illustrations in this book are gorgeous!The pictures flow and fill out the story.Children will be drawn into every page.The book is a wonderful tale of family life, responsibilities and the value of tradition.I put it on my list to buy for my niece and nephew. ... Read more

Product Description
The poems of Louise Erdrich reflect what it is to be a woman, a Midwesterner and a native American. She presents that region and those people without sentimentality, and although drawing from a deep well she does not ignore the ordinary. Her novels include "Love Medicine". ... Read more