The Dawn-Builder (Landmark Edition) [Hardcover]

John G. Neihardt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1991 | Series: Landmark Edition

The Dawn Builder, originally published in 1910, was John G. Neihardt’s first novel. At the center of it is a one-eyed, peg-legged man named Waters. He comes to Fort Calhoun, Nebraska Territory, in 1862 and drinks himself into a hole when he isn’t setting type on the town newspaper. Because his thirst is metaphysical as well, he only temporarily loses sight of the possibility of happiness, of building his own dawn. Like all memorable characters, Waters can’t be contained on the page. Isolated by his physical ugliness, marked by loneliness not yet deadened by silence, compromised by his own excessive energy, he reaches out to a young woman farther outside society than he is and to a kindly widow and her son. The Dawn Builder is reminiscent of Twain in its frontier humor, of Poe in its bizarre adventures, and of Dickens in its casting of some busybodies who belong to the Needle Club. Its return to print will be welcomed by John G. Neihardt’s many admirers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Bizarre, witty, and unsettling, The Dawn-Builder tells the story of Mr. Waters, a one-eyed, one-legged printer, habitual self-loather, and consummate drinker who finds himself in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska Territory, in the 1860s. While working for the town newspaper, Waters' isolation is shattered by two women: a motherly widow and the other-worldly, beautiful Island Girl, whose dark fate in the rough world of the American West ultimately changes Waters' life for the better. Based on characters and situations introduced originally in the acclaimed short stories "The Discarded Fetish" and "Beyond the Spectrum," The Dawn-Builder was John G. Neihardt's first novel, written during an experimental creative interlude just prior to the First World War. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (February 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803233302
• ISBN-13: 978-0803233300
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

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