Stories and Storytellers Series – serie

Long a leading figure in American literature, N. Scott Momaday is perhaps best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning House Made of Dawn and his celebration of his Kiowa ancestry, The Way to Rainy Mountain. Momaday has also made his mark in theater through two plays and a screenplay. Published here for the first time, they display his signature talent for interweaving oral and literary traditions.The Indolent Boys recounts the 1891 tragedy of runaways from the Kiowa Boarding School who froze to death while trying to return to their families. The play explores the consequences, for Indian students and their white teachers, of the federal program to ""kill the Indian and save the Man."" A joyous counterpoint to this tragedy, Children of the Sun is a short children's play that explains the people's relationship to the sun. The Moon in Two Windows, a screenplay set in the early 1900s, centers on the children of defeated Indian tribes, who are forced into assimilation at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where the U.S. government established the first off-reservation boarding school.Belonging with the best of Momaday's classic writing, these plays are works of a mature craftsman that preserve the mythic and cultural tradition of unique tribal communities in the face of an increasingly homogeneous society.

Short Stories from the bestselling author of The Outsiders, plus exclusive interviews A teenager when she first gained fame, now a seasoned writer, S. E. Hinton takes her trademark themes to a new level in Some of Tim's Stories - fourteen original stories depicting adults trapped in lives of missed connections and opportunities. The stories in this collection merge into a larger narrative about two cousins, Terry and Mike, whose lives and families are intertwined but whose paths lead to very different futures: one in prison, the other enduring a guilt-ridden existence working in a bar.The tales are made especially distinctive in the telling. The ""author"" of the stories is a bartender named Tim - the ""Mike"" of his own narrative - whose idiosyncrasies are perfectly captured in Hinton's intriguing use of metafiction.The book also features exclusive interviews with Hinton conducted by Teresa Miller, host of public television's Writing Out Loud. Hinton allows readers into her world as she never has before - speaking openly about her life and career. Complementing the book are line drawings that illustrate the stories and photographs that document the author's life.In one interview, Hinton calls Some of Tim's Stories ""the best writing I've ever done."" These stories capture the feel of the earlier books that won her fame while demonstrating an adult edginess and a more disciplined talent. Some of Tim's Stories is sure to captivate Hinton's long-time fans as it shows new readers that her soul-searching fiction extends masterfully to adult themes as well.

The well-known ""people's politician"" recalls his life and careerOne of Oklahoma's most famous native sons, Fred Harris faced life's challenges with the same resolve as a favorite uncle: ""Does people do it? If people does it, I can do it."" In this engaging memoir, he describes how he met those challenges head-on.A child of the Great Depression, Harris grew up in the small town of Walters, Oklahoma, where he was born in a two-room house. He describes that upbringing and his initiation into state politics, and tells how he was elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of thirty-three. As he recounts his experiences in national politics, he yields an insightful look at the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.Earning a reputation as a ""new populist,"" Harris chaired the national Democratic Party and was a serious presidential candidate. Along the way, he encountered such giants as Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, and Robert F. Kennedy. Enlivening his account with firsthand conversations, Harris contributes to our understanding of the motivations and personalities of these figures - including the infamous tensions between Johnson and Kennedy. Despite rubbing elbows with such power brokers, Harris maintained his own reputation as a down-to-earth man of the people whose advocacy included American Indian causes.Harris accomplished much in his distinguished career, championing human rights at home and around the world. His masterfully written memoir attests to a philosophical consistency and humane liberalism that today are all too rare.

A love story about Dust Bowl heroes who didn't leave for CaliforniaHarlan Singer, a harmonica-playing troubadour, shows up in the Thompson family's yard one morning. He steals their hearts with his music, and their daughter with his charm. Soon he and his fourteen-year-old bride, Sharon, are on the road, two more hobos of the Great Depression, hitchhiking and hopping freights across the Great Plains in search of an old man and the settlement of Harlan's long-standing debt.Finding shelter in hobo jungles and Hoovervilles, the newlyweds careen across the 1930s landscape in a giant figure eight with Oklahoma in the middle. Sharon's growing doubts about her husband's quest set in motion events that turn Harlan Singer into a hero while blinding her to the dark secret of his journey. A love story infused with history and folk tradition, Harpsong shows what happened to the friends and neighbors Steinbeck's Joads left behind.In this moving, redemptive tale inspired by Oklahoma folk heroes, Rilla Askew continues her exploration of the American story. Harpsong is a novel of love and loss, of adventure and renewal, and of a wayfaring orphan's search for home - all set to the sounds of Harlan's harmonica. It shows us the strength and resilience of a people who, in the face of unending despair, maintain their faith in the land.

Long a leading figure in American literature, N. Scott Momaday is perhaps best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning House Made of Dawn and his celebration of his Kiowa ancestry, The Way to Rainy Mountain. Momaday has also made his mark in theater through two plays and a screenplay. Published here for the first time, they display his signature talent for interweaving oral and literary traditions.The Indolent Boys recounts the 1891 tragedy of runaways from the Kiowa Boarding School who froze to death while trying to return to their families. The play explores the consequences, for Indian students and their white teachers, of the federal program to ""kill the Indian and save the Man."" A joyous counterpoint to this tragedy, Children of the Sun is a short children's play that explains the people's relationship to the sun. The Moon in Two Windows, a screenplay set in the early 1900s, centers on the children of defeated Indian tribes, who are forced into assimilation at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where the U.S. government established the first off-reservation boarding school.Belonging with the best of Momaday's classic writing, these plays are works of a mature craftsman that preserve the mythic and cultural tradition of unique tribal communities in the face of an increasingly homogeneous society.

When he's not anchoring the NewsHour on PBS, Jim Lehrer may be found casting a satirical eye at America's heartland in such books as Crown Oklahoma and The Sooner Spy. Mack to the Rescue is the latest of his successful One-Eyed Mack novels. Set in Oklahoma and tracing the exploits of a fictional lieutenant governor, the series allows Lehrer to address contemporary national issues with a unique blend of humour and insight.When Governor "Buffalo Joe" Hayman calls for privatizing state government, Mack decides to oppose his re-election bid, but a medical mishap prevents Mack from running. While attending a lieutenant governors' conference in Washington, he suddenly collapses. Hospitalized, he is given a heart bypass operation intended for another patient. Mack backs out of the race and throws his support behind his flaky friend and former state house Speaker, Luther Wallace. Embroiled in a medical malpractice suit while following Luther's questionable shenanigans, Mack finally has no choice but to come to the rescue when the governor's race takes a particularly ugly turn.Rife with Oklahoma-isms and brimming with memorable characters, this is political satire at its best, employing ironic twists and sharp dialogue to poke fun at government foibles. Inventive and hilarious, it demonstrates once again that Lehrer knows Middle America and its ways all too well.