About the Book
In this sequel to Harrison's True North, Donald Burkett, a middle-aged Chippewa-Finnish man, is dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. While his wife, Cynthia, transcribes, Donald begins dictating his family history for the benefit of their children, stories that he never before has shared.
As old crimes, dreams, wounds, and sacred moments are revived for the members of Donald's family, each is affected in different and profound ways. Each will describe in his or her own voice the inner journey catalyzed by Donald's death and legacy.
This is a deeply moving book about origins and endings, about honoring life, honoring the dead, and finding redemption in unlikely places.
About the Author :
Jim Harrison (1937-2016) was the author of over thirty-five books of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction, including Legends of the Fall, The Road Home, The English Major, and The Farmer's Daughter. His writing appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, and the New York Times. He earned a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Spirit of the West Award from the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association. His work has been recognized worldwide and published in twenty-two languages.
Traci Svendsgaard is a veteran of a twenty-five year voice-over career. In addition, she and her husband, Lars, host The Retro Lounge on Jefferson Public Radio. They live a simple life in Southern Oregon.
Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Ray Porter is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator and fifteen-year veteran of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including Almost Famous, ER, and Frasier.
Paul Michael Garcia, an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and former company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, received his classical training in theater from Southern Oregon University, where he worked as an actor, director, and designer.
Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales on 27 October 1914. In 1934 his first book of poetry, Eighteen Poems appeared, followed by Twenty-five Poems in 1936, Deaths and Entrances in 1946 and in 1952 his final volume, Collected Poems. He also published many short stories, wrote filmscripts, broadcast stories and talks, did a series of lecture tours in the United States and wrote Under Milkwood, the radio play.During his fourth lecture tour of the United States in 1953, a few days after his 39th birthday, he collapsed in his New York hotel and died on November 9th at St. Vincent's Hospital. His body was sent back to Laugharne, Wales, where his grave is marked by a simple wooden cross.In June 1994, his wife, Caitlin Thomas, died in Italy, where she had spent most of the years of her life after the death of Dylan Thomas. Her body is buried next to his.
Review :
"Gracefully moving...Living a good life and dying a good death are big themes but Harrison comes at these subjects with a unique storytelling subtlety."
-- "Bookpage"
"Harrison sounds the themes he has been working out over the course of his long and prolific career, including the healing power of nature and the deep connection between the sensual and the spiritual...Harrison displays a seemingly effortless ability to present abstract issues in earthy, muscular prose."
-- "Booklist"
"Harrison's characters speak with a gripping frankness and intimacy about their own shortcomings and delve into their grief with keen sympathy."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"The exceptional cast...presents [Donald's] story, sometimes harshly, sometimes tenderly, but always unsentimentally and truthfully...In this beautiful, spiritual book, the narrators offer impressive performances, bringing a welcome clarity to each human moment."
-- "AudioFile"
"The structure of the book lends itself well to a spoken version, and Blackstone Audio has splurged in its production, using a different narrator for each of the four parts/characters of the work."
-- "ForeWord"
