A Coyote Reader

by William Bright

Book Overview

Wily, raunchy, and heroic. A trickster, lecher, and supreme survivor. Such is the magical Coyote, that mythic Native American figure whose various roles are recounted here in a wonderful selection of poetry and stories.

Anthropological linguist William Bright brings together diverse portraits of Coyote from American Indian texts and modern American writing. Because Native American myths have been recited and transmitted orally, Bright addresses...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520080629
• ISBN13: 9780520080621
• Release Date: March 1993
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Coyote, Straight - No Chaser

As Bright samples the spectrum of Coyote tales (tails?), in his "no punches pulled" fashion, one becomes aware of a continuity of spirit, pervasive in the telling, from the ancient native legends to the modern Zen adaptions. Perhaps with knowledge aforethought, Bright has surfaced a grey feature of humankind, dogging us through the ages: As we try to be "good", Coyote assures us that there is no such thing. Watered down versions of these stories would entirely miss this connection, and it is to Bright's credit that we receive our Coyote "Straight - No Chaser".Other more familiar aspects of the Coyote folklore, such as the "everything-you-do-will- come-back-to-you" moral, are intelligently presented here in a very readable fashion. Bright attempts to present the stories in as much of an original form as he can. He rightly believes that form here is as important as content. The resulting mix of commentary, prose, and poetry is hard to put down!I gave Bright 4 stars, because there's room for improvement, and I can only hope that an updated version of this book may someday appear. I felt that the Zen portion was handled too lightly, but it may simply be that the Coyote legend progresses a little too fast to be captured properly at any given time. Let this book begin your journey into discovering the true Coyote, which lies within you.

Fabulous anthology

This is one of the first anthologies I've come across which covers all the aspects of Coyote's character, from his role as creator to his raunchy, trickster persona. Too many people tend to water the Coyote tales down, which is unfortunate, as it reduces a very powerful figure to a Brer Rabbit comic character. Although most people know Coyote as a trickster, this anthology illustrates how complicated the morality of a god/first person can be, both creating and breaking rules, saving the people and bringing destruction on them. Just remember, these are wintertime stories- don't read this book in the summer!