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The truth about stories : a native narrative / Thomas King.
Van Pelt Library PR9199.3.K4422 Z477 2005
By Request
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- King, Thomas, 1943-
- Series:
- Indigenous Americas ; v. 1.
- Indigenous Americas
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- King, Thomas, 1943-.
- King, Thomas.
- Authors, Canadian--20th century--Biography.
- Authors, Canadian.
- Indian authors.
- Indians in popular culture.
- Canada.
- North America.
- Indians of North America--Ethnic identity.
- Indians of North America.
- Indians in popular culture--North America.
- Indians of North America--Public opinion.
- Indian authors--Canada--Biography.
- Public opinion--North America.
- Public opinion.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Autobiographies.
- Physical Description:
- 172 pages ; 22 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
- Summary:
- "Stories are wondrous things. And they are dangerous." In The Truth About Stories, Native novelist and scholar Thomas King explores how stories shape who we are and how we understand and interact with other people. From creation stories to personal experiences, historical anecdotes to social injustices, racist propaganda to works of contemporary Native literature, King probes Native culture's deep ties to storytelling.
- With wry humor, Thomas King deftly weaves events from his own life, as a child in California, an academic in Canada, and a Native North American, with a wide-ranging discussion of stories told by and about Indians. So many stories have been told about Indians, King comments, that "there is no reason for the Indian to be real. The Indian simply has to exist in our imaginations."
- That imaginative Indian that North Americans hold dear has been challenged by Native writers-N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louis Owens, Robert Alexie, and others-who provide alternative narratives of the Native experience that question a past, create a present, and imagine a future. King reminds the reader, Native and non-Native, that storytelling carries with it social and moral responsibilities. "Don't say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You've heard it now."
- Contents:
- I "You'll Never Believe What Happened" Is Always a Great Way to Start 1
- II You're Not the Indian I Had in Mind 31
- III Let Me Entertain You 61
- IV A Million Porcupines Crying in the Dark 91
- V What Is It About Us That You Don't Like? 121
- Afterwords: Private Stories 153.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [169]-172).
- ISBN:
- 0816646260
- 0816646279
- OCLC:
- 56924933
- Online:
- Contributor biographical information
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