Patterns and Coincidences, a Sequel to All Is But a Beginning by John G. Neihardt (review)

284 Western American Literature body of fiction. The faults of the book are mostly blamable to the pub­ lishers, who, apparently dominated by the economics of book-publishing, have turned out a physically shoddy piece of work. Right-hand margins are not justified, there is no jacket, the illustrations are poorly reproduced, the notes are relegated to the back, and the number of typographical errors is above average. Harrison’s stimulating analysis deserves better packaging. ROY W. MEYER, Mankato State University Patterns and Coincidences, a Sequel to All Is But a Beginning. By John G. Neihardt. (Columbia & London: University of Missouri Press, 122 pages, $9.50.) Three middlewestem states could claim the late John Neihardt: Illinois, where he was bom; Nebraska, where he received his education and his early journalistic experience and which named him its poet laureate; and Missouri, the home of his final years. But Neihardt knew the western prairies intimately, and the history and settlement of the Missouri Valley provided him the stimulation for many of his almost thirty books. His life­ long devotion to poetry in lyric, narrative, and epic form resulted in the publication of much miscellaneous verse and of the five long accounts of the Indian wars which were collected under the title of A Cycle of the West in 1949, a work which was once immensely popular but is generally underrated today. Among his other memorable books are The River and I, the story of his descent of the Missouri River in an open boat when man-made obstacles did not deter such a voyage, and the much admired Black Elk Speaks, based on interviews with a Sioux medicine man on the Pine Ridge reservation. Despite versatility and perseverance Neihardt never attained major status in American writing although he played a substantial role in proving the existence of literary material in the trans-Mississippi West. However, he retained his ability to write clear and interesting prose until he reached an advanced age. The present book was completed just before his death in 1973 at the age of 92. Patterns and Coincidences is the second part of an autobiography. It is a slight book but not without its charm. In his modest introduction Neihardt denies that “the life story of an ordinary man is necessarily of sufficient interest to justify the telling.” But he adds that almost any life has high spots which are worth sharing with the rest of humanity. As a consequence, he brings together without much coherence and with no obli­ gation to preserve chronology some incidents, reminiscences, and visions of a long life. Some knowledge of earlier Neihardt books will help the reader to understand at least his choice of material, but the eighteen short chapters Reviews 285 present a pleasant view of a sensitive and articulate man at the end of his career. Neihardt tells about his brief work as a hod-carrier in Bancroft, Nebraska, and as a reporter in Omaha; of his early decision to attempt an epic poem about mythological divinities in Spenserian stanzas; of his meet­ ing with various Omaha Indians, who called him Little Bull Buffalo; of fishing on trout streams in the Black Hills with only a stray dog as com­ panion; of early steamboats on the Missouri; of his marriage to the sculptress Mona Martinsen and of their home in Bancroft; and, with an admirable lack of bitterness, of his fugitive father who had deserted the Neihardt family and maintained contact only with desultory correspondence. Patterns and Coincidences is a low-keyed book with few dramatic scenes and no heroes. But details of events in a remote past are skilfully recalled and the pages are deftly written. A final impression remains. Neihardt talks about poetry, indeed about all literature, with devotion, with affection. He was understandably a success on the lecture platform for years. This reviewer regrets that he never had the opportunity to hear Little Bull Buffalo roar. JOHN T. FLANAGAN, University of Illinois, Urbana The Westering Experience in American Literature: Bicentennial Essays. Edited by Merrill Lewis and L. L. Lee. (Bellingham, Washington: Bureau for Faculty Research, Western Washington University, 1977. 224 pages, $4.95.) In this admirable collection of essays...