Here First: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers (Modern Library Paperbacks)
This anthology of 26 essays is a follow-up to I Tell You Now (1978). The authors, born mostly in the 1940s or after, come from many different tribes. Some are full blood, others mixed; some were raised on a reservation, others weren't; and some are well known, others obscure. They are professors, artists, poets, novelists, playwrights, social workers, and more. Krupat (English, Sarah Lawrence Coll.) and Swann (English, Cooper Union) assert that the essays reflect not only how many different ways there are to be Indian today but also how many different ways there are to write about these experiences. After a misanthropic description of American life, W.S. Penn admits, "The problem is that I don't really hate America. I hate the fact that what I want America to do is like me." Rex Lee Jim declares, "When I realized that everything matters, I immediately knew that my destiny was completely in my control." Vickie Sears calls writing "a wind" and a "moving in dreamdance." Like the previous anthology, this collection is a mixed bag but still a valuable contribution to Native American studies and literary scholarship.DNancy P. Shires, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, NCCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.