American Indian Literature: An Anthology by Alan R. Velie (review)

Reviews 279 the back cover: “Sturdy, close-grained, plumb. Fine finish. Poems milled to bear and last.” BILL WITHERUP Seattle, Washington Honey Girl. By Madge Harrah. (New York: Avon Camelot, 1990. 120 pages, $2.95.) An adventure yarn with a plucky heroine, Madge Harrah’s Honey Girl depicts life on the Mississippi in the early 20th century. Starting anew, twelveyear -old Dorothy Stahmann and her Wisconsin farm family float down the river to Arkansas with a barge crowded with beehives. Interesting characters, bursts of action, plus a strong sense of place and time contribute to this short tale’s success. For this reader, Dorothy called to mind another spunky young heroine, Mattie Ross in Charles Portis’ True Grit. Winner of the Western Writers of America’s Golden Spur Award for Best Juvenile Fiction of 1990, Honey Girl is deserving of adult readership for any number of deft touches that cause it to transcend its age bracket. JAMES B. HEMESATH Adams State College Gold Miners & Guttersnipes-.Tales of California. By Mark Twain. Selected, with an introduction, by Ken Chowder. (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1991. 209 pages, $10.95.) “Mark Twain was born in the West. Samuel Clemens, of course, was n o t. ..” claims Ken Chowder in his introduction to this collection of Mark Twain’s California writings. Chowder then outlines Twain’s experiences in California, providing helpful context for these short excerpts from essays, newspaper articles, fiction, speeches, and letters. The pieces are loosely grouped according to subject, covering such diverse topics as “Society Pages,” “Forty-Niners,” and “Religion & Morality.” They are well chosen; besides being very funny, they provide a fascinating glimpse of day-to-day life in 1860s California and are the right length for easy browsing. Also included is a selected bibliography for those who want to know more. DANA BRUNVAND WILLIAMS Utah State University American Indian Literature:An Anthology. Revised edition. Edited by Alan R. Velie. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. 373 pages, $14.95.) This edition of American Indian Literatureboasts a contemporary slant. Gone are the songs meticulously transcribed in native tongues with accompanying 280 Western American Literature tablature. The songs that are presented are relayed line-by-line, in poem-form. Gone, too, are Danny Timmons’wonderful line drawings that accompanied the previous edition. The “Poetry”section (distinct from “Songs”) is expanded with nine new authors, while the “Fiction” section offers two additional—and three new—authors. Introductory essays precede each major section, and provide biographical sketches of authors. The collection remains rich and diverse in genre, source, and time. The pieces span the evolution of native American literature, from traditional to mainstream, from the ancient (though still active) oral tradition to selections from Scott Momaday and Louise Erdrich. As Velie admonishes, these works are not “quaint relics of a forgotten people”; rather, their common bond across traditions and regional cultures is their literary quality. D. E. McIVOR Utah Stale University From a Limestone Ledge. ByJohn Graves. (Louisville, Colorado: The Audio Press, 1990. 2 cassettes, 3 hours, $15.95.) The Desert Smells Like Rain. By Gary Paul Nabhan. (Louisville, Colorado: The Audio Press, 1990. 2 cassettes, 2'Y\ hours, $15.95.) Maybe it’s something atavistic in my character, but I like a good story, read aloud. And for those of us who regret the fading of the oral tradition from our culture, The Audio Press gives reason for hope. Gary Nabhan reads from two of his works: TheDesert Smells Like Rain (1982) and Gathering the Desert (1985). He is an ethnobotanist, and his tales, set in the Sonoran Desert, are of the intricately woven relationship between the Tohono O’odham (Papago), the land, and their domesticated, desert-adapted plants. John Graves is an astute observer of the ebb and flow of life on his Northcentral Texas farm. He reads from Hardscrabble (1973, 1974), and From a Limestone Ledge (1980). The stories speak of daily concerns, from choosing land to the management of a modest herd of cattle, to fencing, and working with the occasional Mexican immigrant. These avuncular stories are ultimately about John Graves, and I like that; they take me to his porch on a cooling Texas evening. D. E. McIVOR...