Indian Summers

By Eric Gansworth

The first work of fiction published in the MSU Press American Indian Studies Series, Indian Summers concerns issues of identity for Native Americans. Set against the backdrop of a contemporary reservation that has had its own losses to the dominant culture--a third of its total land mass taken earlier in the century for a New York State water reservoir, its only religious structures Christian churches--Indian Summers introduces these identity conflicts through the lives and circumstances of its major characters. This is a time when belonging to a tribe is difficult, when dominant societal forces encourage either the acts of abandoning a perceived anachronistic lifestyle or of embracing one of a number of simplistic, prescribed, false identities: warrior, environmentalist, crystal-carrying shaman. None of these options is real for the individuals who populate these pockets of different--not alternative--societies. The people who live these lives do not explore alternatives, nor do they necessarily have the desire to--inextricably entwined as they are with their families, culture, history, and land.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870134795
• ISBN13: 9780870134791
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Michigan State University Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

I couldn't put this book down after I started reading!

I picked this book up not knowing what it was and not sure if I would like it or not. After I finished the novel, I went back and re-read my favorite chapters. I enjoyed everything--the characters, the sense of place on the reservation, and the writing style.

Brilliant, multi-layered novel

Indian Summers ranks with Winter in the Blood as one of the finest examples of Native American literature yet written. The plot-threads flow together beautifully, echoing the best of what is done in the genre of urban fiction, yet transposing this technique onto the detailed world of a reservation. Gansworth is sure to become an important writer. One of the best first novels I've read in years.