People of the Whale
Subtitle: A Novel
Publisher: W. W. Norton; W.W. Norton
Published: August 11, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9780393064575
Subjects: Literature: Texts; General; Fiction / General; Fiction; Fiction - General
Description: Raised in a remote seaside village, Thomas Witka Just marries Ruth, his beloved since infancy. But an ill-fated decision to fight in Vietnam changes his life forever: cut off from his Native American community, he fathers a child with another woman. When he returns home a hero, he finds his tribe in conflict over the decision to hunt a whale, both a symbol of spirituality and rebirth and a means of survival. In the end, he reconciles his two existences, only to see tragedy befall the son he left behind.