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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | 921 KING | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
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, 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, create a present, and imagine a future. King reminds the reader, Native and non-Native, that storytelling carries with it social and moral responsibilties. "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."
Author Notes
Thomas King was born in 1943 in Sacramento, California to a Cherokee father and a mother of Greek and German descent. He attended the University of Utah where he received a Ph. D. in Literature.
His works focus mainly on Native American way of life. His first novel, Medicine River was made into a television movie. His second novel, Green Grass, Running Water won him the Canadian Authors Award for Fiction and it was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award in 1993. In 2003, he received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award. His most recent title DreadfulWater Shows Up, is written under the pseudonym Hartley Goodweather.
He resides in Canada and is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Guelph.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (1)
Booklist Review
Trust a novelist and English professor to get to the heart of how stories and storytelling shape our perceptions. Oral stories, King asserts, are public, requiring interaction with an audience. Gathering oral stories into book form compromises the narratives; once set on the page, a story loses its context and voice. And written stories are usually private; no matter how many people read a particular book, each person reads that story as an individual. While King primarily considers narratives by and about Indians, his unusual treatise also includes coverage of a lengthy stay in New Zealand, identity politics, Native American history, and the experience of being the only middle-aged member of an amateur basketball team. Ultimately, King exhorts listeners to accept the responsibility of stories, writing, Take it. It's yours. Do with it what you will. But 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. This is a wonderful study of the power of words. --Rebecca Maksel Copyright 2005 Booklist
Table of Contents
| I "You'll Never Believe What Happened" Is Always a Great Way to Start |
| II You're Not the Indian I Had in Mind |
| III Let Me Entertain You |
| IV A Million Porcupines Crying in the Dark |
| V What Is It About Us That You Don't Like? |
| Afterwords: Private Stories |
| Notes |
