Into the Wilderness

Amazon.com

In this ambitious and vibrant sequel to The Last of the Mohicans, Elizabeth Middleton, a well-educated spinster of 29, journeys from her home in England to her father's lands in upstate New York in 1792. Her widowed father has promised Elizabeth that she can become the schoolteacher for the local children, but on her arrival at Paradise, her father's property, she learns that he has brought her to America under false pretenses. It is his intention to find her a husband, preferably the well-respected physician, Richard Todd.

Though Elizabeth has no intention to marry, she is immediately drawn, not to Richard, but to backwoodsman Nathaniel Bonner, son of Dan'l "Hawkeye" Bonner, hero of the James Fenimore Cooper classic. Nathaniel's connection to the Mohican (Mahican) people is a strong one; he considers Hawkeye's adoptive father, Chingachgook, his grandfather, and his own wife was a Mahican woman who died in childbirth several years earlier.

Elizabeth learns from her father that her inheritance is a part of his lands, a mountain known as Hidden Wolf, to be granted to her when she marries. She soon finds herself caught between Nathaniel and the Mahicans, who want to buy back the mountain from her father as part of their hunting grounds, and Richard, who wants the land for himself and sees Elizabeth as the route to it. Her father, fearful that the sale of Hidden Wolf to the Mahicans will bring more Indians back to Paradise, favors Richard.

Knowing Richard's main interest in her is her land, Elizabeth resists his attentions as she gets to know Nathaniel and his people. The backwoodsmen and their Indian friends accept her and respect her opinions, and she soon finds herself siding with their claim to Hidden Wolf. Meanwhile, the attraction between her and Nathaniel grows into a love that only adds to the conflict between the whites and the Indians.

Into the Wilderness is an intelligent and beautifully written historical novel that draws the reader into another world. Elizabeth and Nathaniel are well-rounded and intelligent characters, and the secondary characters are also strong, three-dimensional, and often entertainingly quirky. Although the book is long--nearly 700 words--tight pacing makes it an entertaining read. Fans of Diana Gabaldon will want to watch for a cameo appearance by one of the characters of Gabaldon's stunning Outlander series. --Lisa Wanttaja

Book Description

Weaving a vibrant tapestry of fact and fiction, Into the Wilderness sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden, incandescent affair between a spinster Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. Here is an epic of romance and history that will captivate readers from the very first page.

When Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, leaves her Aunt Merriweather's comfortable English estate to join her father and brother in the remote mountain village of Paradise on the edge of the New York wilderness, she does so with a strong will and an unwavering purpose: to teach school.

It is December of 1792 when she arrives in a cold climate unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man different from any she has ever encountered--a white man dressed like a Native American, tall and lean and unsettling in his blunt honesty. He is Nathaniel Bonner, also known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives.

Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village--white, black, and Native American--Elizabeth soon finds herself at odds with local slave owners. Much to her surprise, she clashes with her own father as well. Financially strapped, Judge Middleton has plans for his daughter--betrothal to local doctor Richard Todd. An alliance with Todd could extract her father from ruin but would call into question the ownership of Hidden Wolf, the mountain where Nathaniel, his father, and a small group of Native Americans live and hunt.

As Judge Middleton brings pressure to bear against his daughter, she is faced with a choice between compliance and deception, a flight into the forest, and a desire that will bend her hard will to compromise and transformation. Elizabeth's ultimate destiny, here in the heart of the wilderness, lies in the odyssey to come: trials of faith and flesh, and passion born amid Nathaniel's own secrets and divided soul.

Interweaving the fate of the remnants of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati's compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portrait of an emerging America.

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyed every bit of the entire series!.......2007-07-18

Each book in this series left me waiting for the next. Extremely well written.. kept me interested from start to finish.

I'm finally done!.......2007-07-07

I can't believe anyone can compare this book to Diana Gabaldon's. Not too long into the book, I began checking what page I was on to see how much more I had to read. I was determined to finish it before I could judge. The plot and the characters are flat but mostly predictable..very predictable. A spinster who quickly falls in love with a white Native American who uses "ain't" too much and calls her "boots." She barely knows him yet she is ready to give up and sell her land to him, his family, and his Native American friends. The dialogue doesn't shine. The plot is once again, flat and predictable. The characters unbelievable. It is important for me to care about the characters when I'm reading a book, especially a book that has this many pages. Ms. Donati should have saved a tree and not tried to resemble Diana Gabaldon.

..Diana Gabaldon's books aren't a perfect 10 either but so much better than this one. I actually enjoyed them and I do recommend them.

This also did not strike me as a believable "Last of the Mohicans" sequel. Not even close.

I gave this 2 stars because this book had potential and it's a great idea..but it's just too ambitious to try and make a sequel to James Fennimore Cooper's literary classic and when failing, comparing it to other great books.

Good historical fiction.......2007-05-28

I love reading the historical fiction genre, but it took me longer than normal to read this novel. It was not because it has an overly complicated plot and it was not boring, but I just wasn't in love with the characters. It is a good enough story and Ms. Donati is a talented writer, but Nathanial and Elizabeth just didn't click for me as the main characters. I liked the post Revolutionary war time-frame and the wilderness aspect of the book held my interest.

Bland.......2007-03-07

I read the book with some interest, I would daze in and out of the 2 dimensional characters as I skipped pages of endless description. A lot of the book was descriptive to the point of "what's the point?' The villan was not too threatening, the main characters were boring and I did not get a real grasp on who they were, I wish Ms. DOnati would have spent as much time developing the characters as she did their intensive family tree. Yawn.

5 Stars for Sara Donati.......2006-11-06

I fully enjoyed, "Into the Wilderness." Anyone who enjoys Diana Gabaldon's books, will also enjoy this series. I just ordered the newest book in the series, and can't wait to get started. The characters in this fast paced work of historical fiction are memorable and lovable. If you buy this book, make sure to order the rest of the series too, because you won't want to wait for them to be delivered!

The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization (Institute of Early American History & Culture)

Average customer rating:

Very useful work on the Iroquois Confederacy
The Masterpiece

The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization (Institute of Early American History & Culture)
Daniel K. Richter
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807843946

Book Description

Richter examines a wide range of primary documents to survey the responses of the peoples of the Iroquois League—the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras—to the challenges of the European colonialization of North America. He demonstrates that by the early eighteenth century a series of creative adaptations in politics and diplomacy allowed the peoples of the Longhouse to preserve their cultural autonomy in a land now dominated by foreign powers.

Customer Reviews:

Very useful work on the Iroquois Confederacy.......2007-02-14

I've found this book to be both insightful and easy to understand. Though this is a well researched and referenced academic text it is accessible to the average reader, assuming an interest in the subject matter.

The Iroquois were a centerpiece of North American colonial life and I would highly suggest this book for those interested in History or Anthropology, as Dr. Richter takes broad approach to his analysis and documents cultural practices and history of interest to many disciplines.

The Masterpiece.......2000-06-28

Daniel Richter, in this astonishing book, does an excellent job explaining social, political and economical aspects of the Iroquois people with strong evidence. This book is a resutl of a big reserach and Richter's dedication to the subject. I would recommend this book not only to students who need to take Native American History, but also to anyone who is interested in learning about the Iroquoi's life and their impacts on the French, the England, and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries. Even though i am not a native speaker, i really enjoyed reading this book because of Richter's plain English.

Average customer rating:

the first and best about indian gaming
Intelligent and Relevant

One Nation Under the Gun
Rick Hornung
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Canada | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

the first and best about indian gaming.......2000-06-16

This is bound to be a classic, one of those books scholars will use as a reference in trying to understand the transformation of Indian nations in the late 20th century. Several years before Indian casinos changed the economic landscape of the southern New England and other sections of North America, Rick Hornung was one of the first reporters on the case. In 1989-1990, he traveled to Mohawk lands, artfully documenting the Mohawks' violent civil war over the effort to build, run and maintain lucrative casinos. While most nations negotiated settlements and compacts with state and federal governments, the Mohawks refused to give up their sovereignty over reserved lands. This decision to resist and begin a new, dynamic economy is at the core of Hornung's gripping, exciting and incisive chronicle of what happens to an Indian community when it must decide between gambling or other forms of economic and political development. Adding to the complexity and excitement is Hornung's shrewd awareness of how troubles in New York spilled across the St. Lawrence River and caused an armed revolt on the streets of Montreal. Determined to let the various present their views, Hornung creates a vivid and unfrogettable protrait of a Mohawk community faced with the conflicting demands of preserving the past and securing a future. From one confrontation to the next, Hornung weaves a tight narrative of suspense and political intrigue that often erupts into violence. In his book, the Mohawks are astute and intelligent participants in the struggle to redefine their own identity in a world of loss, longing and betrayal.

Intelligent and Relevant.......2000-06-06

This account of the Mohawk Civil War, near the end of the 20th century, proves even more relevant at the beginning of the 21st, as gambling laws and Indians make new news. Rick Hornung invites the men and women whose story this is, to speak from their own places of division and betrayal. With honesty and intelligence, Hornung's report brings these people to the understanding of his readers. One Nation Under The Gun is one of the most important books for anyone brave enough to look deep inside conflict and struggle. It is a must read for the serious student of history, politics, and government.

Average customer rating:

Watch Out!
Skeleton Man
PCE student
Skeleton Man
Skeleton Man

Skeleton Man
Joseph Bruchac
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064408884
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Book Description

Ever since the morning Molly woke up to find that her parents hadvanished, her life has become filled with terrible questions. Where have her parents gone? Who is this spooky old man who's taken her to live with him, claiming to be her great-uncle? Why does he never eat, and why does he lock her in her room at night? What are her dreams of the Skeleton Man trying to tell her? There's one thing Molly does know. She needs to find some answers before it's too late.

Customer Reviews:

Watch Out!.......2007-10-08

Bruchac weaves a suspenseful tale of a courageous, determined, heroine who allows her dreams and American Indian heritage to guide her decisions. At first, Molly is unsure of what is coming to her in her dreams; is it memory, or premonition? As the story unfolds, Molly embraces her dreams, and even beckons them to "help" her. She recalls stories told to her from the Mohawk traditions which comfort her, and also warn her of possible danger. She learns to have faith in herself, even when some of the adults in her life dismiss her claims as an "overactive imagination." She is shrewd enough to realize that if she tells the adults everything about her dreams and suspicions, she may be putting herself (and her parents) in more danger. Molly can trust just one adult - her teacher, and this alliance makes her stronger. Knowing that she can rely on at least one other person makes her feel more secure and sane throughout this whole ordeal. This quick, intense mystery is sure to appeal to reluctant readers.

Skeleton Man.......2007-06-07

I was reading the book "Skeleton Man" by Joseph Bruchac. This book has amazing events. The events are filled with suspense and mystery. With the details, it will make you want to read as much as I did. The main characters and their actions make you want to read and keep going.

In this book, you can probably relate yourself to the characters and the events. There were many surprises in this book. If you love suspense books, this is a great book for you.

PCE student.......2007-04-17

i love skelton man so much because its a a very sacay book theres a girl living with her uncle and what happens will she always live with him and is he a good guy or bad guy any one who is 9-15 would like this book but keep in mind it is one of the scaryest book i have ever read in my life.....you will have to see how the story ends but the beging is the best part of the book!!!

Skeleton Man.......2007-03-15

Skeleton Man is about a young girl named Molly. The book starts off when her parents when out to dinner and never returned. Molly had fallen asleep and did not relize it untill she woke up the next morning. She sat there and waited for them to come back for about a day, finally she called the social services. She had no family around so she couldn't call them. A lady picked up and molly told her everything that she knew about what happened. That afternoon the news reporters and people who ran foster homes came. Molly was forced to go a foster home unless someone come to get her, like a relitive. As soon as she got to the foster home, a tall, skinney man walked in and claimed he was her uncle. Molly hated to be at the foster home so she said that he was her uncle and went home with him. The man was very weird, he always wore long clothes and he never showed his skin. He would also lock her in her room when she went to bed and when into his shed which was on the side of the house. She was never allowed to go near the shed or anywhere in the yard. Molly did not like the guy and she looked fowarded to go to school so she could get away from him. One night Molly thought of a plan to get into that shed and see what was in there. The next night she opened her window and tied all of her blankets and curtens together and climed down to the side yard and went to the shed. At first their was nothing and it looked like a normal shed, but then she found a secert door behind some boxes. There was a narrow hallway their was two door, one on each side, and then what looked like a exit at the end of the hallway. First she looked in the door to the left and it was full of weapons and such. Then she looked to the door to the right and saw a empty room with a drin on the gorund. Then she heard voice, it was coming from the drin. So she walked over and looked down, her parents where down there! She was about to tell them what hed happened when she heard the door shut and someone started walking, toward her. She got up and ran like never before, she ran to the exit and went stright to the park. He was right behind her, and he was gaining. She ran through bushes and around trees. Finally she got to the river, she ran down the side of the river to the one place where anyone could get over. she ran and jumped and maid it. She was climbing up when he jumped over, he jumped over and missed but he grabed her foot. Molly kicked a couple of times then hit him in the face. He lost grip and fell into the river, he was never seen again. Molly clinbed up the side of the bank and ran back to the shed to get her parents. They made it home and they lived happly ever after.

Skeleton Man.......2007-03-03

In the book, Skeleton man, Molly has a confusing life. First, Molly was forced to stay at her uncle's house with her creepy uncle. Molly's parents had gone missing and she doesn't have any more family members so she had to stay with him. She was always suspicious of him and never trusted him. Second, Molly started having weird scary dreams. Molly would wake up during them and figure out that it wasn't a dream. Second, her uncle was always in his mysterious shed. She broke into his shed and found her parents in there trapped. Third, Molly doesn't feel safe at his house only at school. Molly trusts her teacher and is very scared to go home after the days at school are over especially on Fridays because that would mean she would have to stay there for the whole weekend. Finally, Molly has to deal with having not that many friends. Molly only has a few friends including the teacher. Skeleton man is a very interesting and weird book.

Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message (Reading Rainbow Book)

Average customer rating:

Good, but not what I ecpected
Very Pleased
A truly wonderful book.
Perfect Way to Teach Gratitude
This book is AWESOME!

Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message (Reading Rainbow Book)
Jake Swamp
Manufacturer: Lee & Low Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1880000547

Customer Reviews:

Good, but not what I ecpected.......2006-11-11

Accourding to the reviews this is an excellent book, which I agree with. It is beautifull in illustration and story. But if you are christian this book is not for you. It glorifies the Indian beliefs, which is fine, but not for our family. So I had to make a trip to the postoffice to return it. None of the other reviews mention this, they just note that it is a very thankfull book. If you worship nature this is for you, if you worship Jesus this is not.

Very Pleased.......2005-11-11

This is a simple book to read through for younger children. Written by native Americans it is a "thanksgiving" book from their point of view, why native americans have always celebrated thanksgiving. It has no mention of pilgrams or not fully proven, overly romanticized stories as most thanksgivings are but simply a beautiful description of the season, the great harvest and respect for the world around them. A book of why the Native Americans Gave thanks during this beautiful season.

A truly wonderful book........2004-07-10

A simple but truly beautiful and wonderful book. To read with your children every morning and express thanks to the world, promoting connectedness and deep respect of all things. Teaching our children these important words will doubtlessly take us through these rough times and make the world as beautiful and peaceful as it was intended to be.

Perfect Way to Teach Gratitude.......2001-08-23

Anyone looking to teach the concept of Gratitude to children need look no further. "Giving Thanks" is the answer. The words, culled from the Thanksgiving Address (an ancient Iroquois message of gratitude still used today) simply, directly and eloquently give a roll-call of thanks from the Earth to the Sun and everything in-between. They evoke warm, inviting, even mythic images that I believe will delight most children. A personal, friendly face is put upon the elements that are usually looked at through the cold, impersonal microscope of science. The sun, moon, thunder and lightning, and even dead ancestors are transformed into Brother Sun, Grandmother Moon, Grandfather Thunder Beings and the Spirit Protectors, respectively.

The world is simply and beautifully explained not as a big, scary one, but a warm, familiar one in twenty short pages. Even children too young to read will benefit thanks to the bright, colorful painting-like artwork by Irwin Printup, Jr. Every page brilliantly shines with the face of Grandmother Moon and the haunting reassurance of the Spirit Protectors. Its a great gift for classrooms, birthdays, holidays or just to to teach this valuable virtue. Highly recommended!

This book is AWESOME!.......1999-11-10

I was blown away by this book and was proud to add it to my bookshelf. I am glad that publishers are letting REAL Native American writers and artists tell our own stories our own way. The Thanksgiving Address is a central component of Mohawk culture and I was proud to see this in the hands of my children. This and SKYWOMAN by Joanne Shenandoah, Douglas George, John Fadden and Dave Fadden have set a new standard in the publishing of Native American culture and art. Now, if only some publisher would accept the challenge to do the same with Native American history...(hint hint!)

Mohawk Saint: Catherine Tekakwitha and the Jesuits

Average customer rating:

Dragging down Tekakwitha?

Mohawk Saint: Catherine Tekakwitha and the Jesuits
Allan Greer
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195309340

Book Description

The daughter of a Algonquin mother and an Iroquois father, Catherine/Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) has become known over the centuries as a Catholic convert so holy that, almost immediately upon her death, she became the object of a cult. Today she is revered as a patron saint by Native Americans and the patroness of ecology and the environment by Catholics more generally, the first Native North American proposed for sainthood. Tekakwitha was born at a time of cataclysmic change, as Native Americans of the northeast experienced the effects of European contact and colonization. A convert to Catholicism in the 1670s, she embarked on a physically and mentally grueling program of self-denial, aiming to capture the spiritual power of the newcomers from across the sea. Her story intersects with that of Claude Chauchetiere, a French Jesuit of mystical tendencies who came to America hoping to rescue savages from sin and paganism. But it was Claude himself who needed help to face down his own despair. He became convinced that Tekakwitha was a genuine saint and that conviction gave meaning to his life. Though she lived until just 24, Tekakwitha's severe penances and vivid visions were so pronounced that Chauchetiere wrote an elegiac hagiography shortly after her death. With this richly crafted study, Allan Greer has written a dual biography of Tekakwitha and Chauchetiere, unpacking their cultures in Native America and in France. He examines the missionary and conversion activities of the Jesuits in Canada, and explains the Indian religious practices that interweave with converts' Catholic practices. He also relates how Tekakwitha's legend spread through the hagiographies and to areas of the United States, Canada, Europe, and Mexico in the centuries since her death. The book also explores issues of body and soul, illness and healing, sexuality and celibacy, as revealed in the lives of a man and a woman, from profoundly different worlds, who met centuries ago in the remote Mohawk village of Kahnawake.

Customer Reviews:

Dragging down Tekakwitha?.......2004-11-27

This is not a biography of the humble young Mohawk woman whose courage, holiness, faith, and purity earned her (as thousands who know and love her truly believe) that place in Heaven. This book, in the author's own paraphrased words, is meant to "bring Tekakwitha down from heaven." (And it is part of a gloomy trend to do just that - to as much as one can to bring one's subject down.) And, thankfully, despite over two hundred pages of trying, he has not succeeded in dragging her down.

There are people who were primarily historic figures and those whose lives are mainly of religious significance. Blessed Kateri (or Catherine, as the author prefers to call her) Tekakwitha was very clearly the latter. But this book approaches her from the former point of view, making her a postmortem pawn in the Jesuit's missionary work among the natives in Canada. The mystical and the supernatural (from a religious view) are ignored. The author seems even unwillingly to use the title of "Blessed" in reference to her.

At one point, the author even seems - in a very subtle way - to imply the Kateri and her closest friend (Marie-Therese Tegaiaguenta)were lovers. If, as he writes, there is "no reason to think they were lovers," why mention it at all? What does it serve?

The author dwells on each and any discrepancy in the original accounts by the two missionaries who knew Kateri during the last years of her life. (Even the Bible - in all its various popular translations - has its discrepancies.) Any story of any person, any account of any event is bound to have differences when told by two different witnesses. That alone is not enough reason to discount the differences.

His grim portrait of Kateri in no way accounts for the great numbers of people (not only Native Americans, but from around the world) who have a profound love for this holy young woman.
I can speak from my own experiences and observations that she has had a great impact even on people who knew little or nothing of her.

Historians may find this book of interest, but for those who have a devotion to this wonderful saint-to-be, there is little to recommend it.

On a personal level, I have been studying the life of Blessed Kateri for a number of years. My personal collection includes nearly a hundred works of literature on her. These range from reprints of the original biographies by Fathers Chauchetiere and Cholonec to fluffy, sentimentalized (to the point of being quite ridiculous) books for young readers.

I am also the creator of the web site mentioned on page 241 of this new book. I work for and look forward to the day when she is finally declared a saint.

I pre-ordered this book many months ago and read it with an open mind as I am always eager for new details on her life. For me, it was a dull read (the narrative flow seems uneven) with left me unimpressed (not with Catherine Tekakwitha) and with a very unpleasant taste.

Historians, cultural anthropologists, and the politically correct may find something of interest in this dry and dreary book, but for those who have a devotion to this wonderful saint-to-be, there is little to recommend it.

(I gave it one star because there is no lesser option and, well, my site was mentioned in the Notes to Chapter 9. I suppose I owe it something.)

Average customer rating:

A brilliant author but don't expect Empire Falls
This was the book that made me a Russo convert. . .
The beginning of Russo's brilliant career
Practice for Empire Falls
get out while you're young

Mohawk
Richard Russo
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375412867
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Amazon.com

The town of Mohawk may be provincial but it's far from sleepy. Its inhabitants seem perpetually awake, and not only on Saturday at two in the morning, "when the bars are closing and people are forced to consider the prospect of returning home with so many of the night's dreams unfulfilled." Richard Russo focuses on several characters who are leading lives of extreme--and extremely funny--longing. Dallas Younger, for instance, hit his peak playing high-school football, and it's been downhill from there. He has no idea what women, particularly his ex-wife, are thinking, which makes him really glad there are none in on the local poker game. And he's still at a loss to figure out why he has no relationship with his son (probably something to do with the fact that he never sees him). Even the calendar at the local grill is for 1966, since the owner figures "the months are the same" and being a few days out of whack doesn't matter. This same man has a private betting system. Choosing among the top jockeys isn't that hard--he tries to assess their current levels of pride, concentration, and desire. Richard Russo shows us that these same qualities exist in his hard-luck characters.

Book Description

Originally published in 1986 in the Vintage Contemporaries paperback series—and reissued now in hardcover alongside his masterful new novel, Empire Falls—Richard Russo’s Mohawk remains today as it was described then: A first novel with all the assurance of a mature writer at the peak of form and ambition, Mohawk is set in upstate New York and chronicles over a dozen lives in a leather town, long after the tanneries have started closing down. Ranging over three generations—and clustered mainly in two clans, the Grouses and the Gaffneys—these remarkably various lives share only the common human dilemmas and the awesome physical and emotional presence of Mohawk itself.

For this is a town like Winesburg, Ohio or Our Town, in our time, that encompasses a plethora of characters, events and mysteries. At once honestly tragic and sharply, genuinely funny, Mohawk captures life, then affirms it.

Customer Reviews:

A brilliant author but don't expect Empire Falls.......2007-02-16

Richard Russo has been compared to Cheever, Roth, Oats, Irving, along with many other great contemporary American writers. These accolades, especially post Empire Falls, are very well deserved. Mohawk, an earlier work of Russo's, shows his writing to be sensitive to real human experience and, at times, even compares with Empire Falls. However, a real pitfall in this novel is the plot getting in the way of his writing. It seems contrived to allow him the lattitude to develop his characters, something he can do as well as most living writers. But it keeps the reader in a dazed and even stumbling state. Luckily, for all of us who so enjoyed Empire Falls, he seemed to work out the earlier kinks. Simply put, if you have not read the latter, you will likely enjoy Mohawk. If you have, don't go back. It really isn't worth the journey in time.

This was the book that made me a Russo convert. . ........2006-10-14

I picked up this book years ago (before the "Empire Falls" hype), not knowing what I was in for. Had I known that the book was about the happenings in a small town, I'd never had bought the book, and would have missed out on one of my favorite authors!

I was engrossed in this book from the first page. Enough so to move through the "works of Russo".

The beginning of Russo's brilliant career.......2006-06-19

This very readable first novel is a great place for the Russo novice to start. If you've already read Russo's "Empire Falls", "Mohawk" may seem to be a "pilot" episode of that novel. We get a city home to a dying industry, polluted waterways as a result of that industry, the disenfranchised workers and a diner. It's probably a little unfair to make so many comparisons between the novels; Russo is a chronicler of the darker side of America, especially the towns that once were full of people who were able to make a living. We need Russo much like we need Annie Proulx; in a go-go era of skyrocketing real estate and money everywhere, the wealth in this country is not equally distributed and those towns you pass by on the highways all have stories of their own, stories that people would like to forget about. Russo brings these stories into focus and makes them impossible to avoid. (I'm half joking when I say Russo's next novel should be about people forced to leave an apartment building they'd lived in for decades once it goes "luxury" condo.)

Russo sets the two parts of "Mohawk" in 1966 and 1972 but doesn't play up the era too much except for a few scattered references and the appearance of a draft dodger. The lives of the characters are so real and well portrayed that it's hard to not keep turning pages, long after you should be asleep. Russo never offers the easy answer to any of his character's lives. There is no deux ex machina that exists around the corner, just more day-to-day living. In Russo's novel, people die when they shouldn't and others live far too long; there's no explanation why this is and looking for an answer can prove fruitless.

I enjoyed the novel as a whole, and it's a little hard to critique Russo's style here as he tightened up his writing and later novels like "Nobody's Fool" and "Empire Falls" are some of the best novels published in the last fifteen years, but I do have a minor quibble. "Mohawk" suffers at times from too many chapters that are self-contained; the book works well when the story flows but stumbles when it seems as though we're just reading a series of interconnected short stories. Read "Mohawk" and then move on to the rest of Russo's canon and see how a great writer develops his craft.

Practice for Empire Falls.......2006-05-10

I read Mohawk after reading Empire Falls and Nobody's Fool. It was essentially the same story, in the same setting, with the same characters. It felt like Mohawk was practice for his masterpiece.

Like the other books, Mohawk is a collection of very well drawn characters, all of them fatally flawed, living in a dying town. What's missing in Mohawk is a central focus. There are many characters that we care about, and many stories, but no one main character and storyline to focus on, so Mohawk seems to have no thread we can latch onto. And though it is full of trademark Russo irony, it is missing the lightheartedness of Empire Falls that relieves the core of darkness of his characters.

Nevertheless, the novel held me interested, and once I got into it, I couldn't put it down, finishing it in a single weekend at 2 AM on Sunday night. Though not Russo's best, it is still better than 95% of the other books out there and worth reading. But if you haven't read Russo's The Straight Man, I'd recommend reading that instead. Mohawk, Nobody's Fool and Empire Falls are all the same story, same characters. The Straight Man is a departure, almost a comedy of errors, and a fun book to read.

get out while you're young.......2005-10-09

This is the second time in a few weeks I'm reviewing a first novel by an author I like. I can understand why people like Russo's later books better, but this is defintely worth a read. I can't fault the writing, and I was bleeding for the characters. Mohawk is a dying tannery town in upstate New York, where the stores are closing, the downtown is decaying, and it doesn't pay to be too smart. Reminded me of some graffiti I once saw in a similar town when Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited was making a stop "Stay Stupid and Survive." There seem to be no lasting friendships or social groups or activities. The main recreation consists of drinking and gambling, and no one can blame the characters for doing these to excess, given the truly awful things that keep happening to them. I was praying for any of them to be able to get away and stay away. In the background is the suggestion that the tanneries have been polluting the water supply for years, causing residents to get cancer at many times the national average (if you're familiar with A Civil Action, this is the same thing). The only times the entire town turns out in a ten-year period for entertainment is destruction, once a demolition of the old hospital, and once for a fire. Domestic violence is rampant. If you are looking for a happy book, this is not the one. However, I felt the author did a great job of creating a realistic place and the interrelationships of the people who lived there. I won't rehash the plot, as others have done, but as a Russo fan I say this can stand with his other work.

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Great reading
awesome
A Novel Approach to History
Finally a different view!
AMAZING FACT FILLED BOOK

Eye of the Eagle
Robert E. Wilczak
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1419623729
Release Date: 2007-02-22

Book Description

The story of General Benedict Arnold's defection to the British in September of 1780 has never been presented in this way. “Brilliantly conceived and thoroughly researched book. A fascinating new look at one of history’s most infamous men. You-are-there feel of a novel. Thought-provoking, intriguing and historically important, Eye of the Eagle will truly open your eyes”. New York Times best-selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh

Customer Reviews:

Great reading.......2007-07-29

I very good book that gives the reader an interesting twist on what was believed to be gospel. The author's research is convincing.

awesome .......2007-04-20

An awesome book....definitely a different view .... a must read for anyone seeking to truely understand Benedict Arnold's story.

A Novel Approach to History.......2007-04-19

Who would have thought that what was assumed by the average student of American history to be an open and shut case against Benedict Arnold could be brought into question. And, furthermore, to do so with such detailed facts woven into a rather gripping novel format. Mr. WIlczak has laid out a compelling case that Arnold was not a traitor but a collaborator with George Washington to ultimately fool the British. This book could be the basis of an excellent movie.

Finally a different view!.......2007-04-13

This book expresses a thoroughly researched, fresh approach to one of history's most infamous legends. When I began to read the book I felt my feelings regarding Benedict Arnold could not be swayed. The author, however, through meticulous use of timeline, documented fact, and letters of many of the involved, opened my eyes to the possibility that Arnold may have been the protaganist in a great scheme to free the colonies and help create the United States. I highly recommend this book to anyone who seeks the truth instead of the commonly handed down history stories we have been fed since childhood. AAAAA+++++

AMAZING FACT FILLED BOOK.......2007-03-27

Well written and amazing to read. Author captured the moment and took you there. Book was flooded with facts.

I would highly recommend this book, it is not only for the history buffs.
If you do enjoy history, you will love the author's details.

Average customer rating:

Sweetgrass Basket

Sweetgrass Basket
Marlene Carvell
Manufacturer: Dutton Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0525475478

Book Description

In prose poetry and alternating voices, Marlene Carvell weaves a heartbreakingly beautiful story based on the real-life experiences of Native American children. Mattie and Sarah are two Mohawk sisters who are sent to an off-reservation school after the death of their mother. Subject to intimidation and corporal punishment, with little hope of contact with their father, the girls are taught menial tasks to prepare them for life as domestics. How Mattie and Sarah protect their culture, memories of their family life, and their love for each other makes for a powerful, unforgettable historical novel.

Customer Reviews:

Sweetgrass Basket .......2006-10-13

Sweetgrass Basket is a contagious book that captivates you into its cruel world. Once I started reading, I could not put the book down. The pages turn rapidly alternating between the two sisters' point of view. Mattie and Sarah are shipped off to the Carlisle Indian Boarding School by their father after their mother dies. Together they struggle to survive harsh working and living conditions and ruthless belittling while the school attempts to strip their culture away from them to "prepare them to survive in the white world". I think this is an accurate portrayal of the vicious abuse and forced assimilation that took place in the Carlisle Indian School and other boarding schools because it did not have a happy ending. The two sisters' close bond and love for their culture is never taken away from them and proof of this is their continued use of the Mohawk language and attachment to objects they snuck in from home. It goes to show you that ones' culture can never be taken away, no matter what conditions you put them through. This book would be a great book to use in the classroom setting because its example of a relentless struggle to remain proud of whom you are.

Children of the Longhouse (Puffin Novel)

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"Children of the Longhouse"- An Excellent Teaching Tool
An awesome book
Children of the Longhouse is a great historical fic book.
Children of the longhouse is a great book
This book is very action packed.

Children of the Longhouse (Puffin Novel)
Joseph Bruchac
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0140385045

Book Description

When Ohkwa'ri overhears a group of older boys planning a raid on a neighboring village, he immediately tells his Mohawk elders. He has done the right thing--but he has also made enemies. Grabber and his friends will do anything they can to hurt him, especially during the village-wide game of Tekwaarathon (lacrosse). Ohkwa'ri believes in the path of peace, but can peaceful ways work against Grabber's wrath? An exciting story that also offers an in-depth look at Native American life centuries ago. -- Kirkus Reviews Joseph Bruchac is an award-winning storyteller, writer, and editor, and the author of The First Strawberries and Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back. He lives in Greenfield Center, New York.

Customer Reviews:

"Children of the Longhouse"- An Excellent Teaching Tool.......2004-09-30

I read "Children of the Longhouse" aloud to my fourth grade classes each year as a wonderful springboard to teach NYS Native American history in alignment with NYS Social Study Standards. The story-line holds the interest of the students and is packed with historical information and Native American customs and culture that the children are interested in and retain. It also peaks the students interest to investigate present Native American issues. Reading this book is a pleasant way to learn about a valuable topic.

An awesome book.......2000-07-11

Children of the Longhouse is a thrilling book about a Native American boy named Ohkwa're and his twin sister Otsi:stia. Ohkwa'ri overhears some boys planning to start a battle with the Anen:taks, a neighboring tribe. He told on them and saved his village from a war. Wanting revenge, the boys bully him and soon put his life in danger. You should read this book because it's exciting and I couldn't put it down when I started reading it. Also, I learned about the daily lives of the Mohawks. It was interesting how they played sports, how they used plants to make medicine and how they celebrated holidays. The end was suspenseful and I would recommend this book for kids to read.

Children of the Longhouse is a great historical fic book........1999-11-13

The Children of the Longhouse is a great historical fiction book by Joseph Bruchac. The Children of the Long house is about twins. The main two characters are the to twins they are boy girl twins. The boy loves love Tekwaarathon also known as lacrose. Even thuogh I;m only ten years old, my mom and I read children of the Longhouse together. my mom and I loved the book so I gave it 5 stars.

Children of the longhouse is a great book.......1999-11-11

The book Children of the longhouse is a great historical fiction book by joseph Bruchac. Even though i'm only eleven years old it is a greatbook for all children, even adults. My mom read the book with me and thought it was a great book too! Well the Children of the Longhouse is about a boy and girl twins, like me. Other Native Americans and the boy love Tekwaarathon (Day-ghaah-la-lot), also known as lacrosse.I gave Children of the longhouse four stars because it was not the best book of all but it was the best book I ever read!

This book is very action packed........1998-12-05

If you like books about Native Americans, I recommend this book. In the Iroquois culture they would play a game called Tekwaarathon, which is lacrosse, for people who are sick to make them feel better. In this book it works!

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