An Eagle Nation (Sun Tracks) [Paperback]

Carter Revard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0816514038 | ISBN-13: 978-0816514038 | Edition: First Edition

Carter Revard, Osage Indian poet, Rhodes scholar, and professor of medieval English literature, shares both this amazement and his amazing command of language in this first retrospective collection of 40 published and unpublished pieces written from 1970 to 1991.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Revard (English, George Washington Univ.) is a highly complex poet of Native American ancestry who grew up among the Osage and Ponca people in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. His most lyrical works evoke tribal and childhood memories of that magical place, a world of "boulders brilliant with tangerine, umber, bluegray luminous lichens" where "purple martins... dip and sip, veer and swoop." But the poet is also a scholar of medieval English literature, and other verses evoke university life in Oxford and St. Louis. His style can shift from colloquial narrative poems to tribal chants to Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse. Like the trickster figure he admires, Revard assumes many forms and speaks in many accents. But his theme of "giveaway" (thanksgiving) unifies the book: he praises geodes, watermelons with "sugar-frosted" hearts, everything "the earth has brought/ us." Recommended for larger collections.
- Daniel L. Guillory, Millikin Univ., Decatur, Ill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"The voice of the narrator is an interior transformation, a wise manner at the intersections of oral traditions. . . . A splendid giveaway of both visions and common sense." —World Literature Today "A collection that does what finely tuned poetry does best—putting human feeling and observation into focus and into print . . . A refreshingly unique perspective in the spirit of a rich oral tradition." —St Louis Post-Dispatch "Like the trickster figure he admires, Revard assumes many forms and speaks in many accents." —Library Journal

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Product Details

• Paperback: 123 pages
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press; First Edition edition (July 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816514038
• ISBN-13: 978-0816514038
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,872,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've read in years. . ., November 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: An Eagle Nation (Sun Tracks) (Paperback)

Revard is a wonderful storyteller, yet his poems are lyrical and beautifully wrought. His range is impressive--whether he's writing about the Oklahoma of his childhood, his years in England, or medieval monsters, the poems are always compelling, the voice in them engaging. I would recommend this book not only to avid poetry readers but to anyone who likes a good story.

3.0 out of 5 stars Read his work carefully, June 15, 2008

By 

D. Rachlin "wunland" (Stow, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Eagle Nation (Sun Tracks) (Paperback)

It does not matter whether you are a Rhodes Scholar, have a PhD. or are a minority. Using Nazi terms to describe Israelis in regards to Middle East politics is not terribly intellectual. Whether one feels the North American Holocaust has parallels to the European one(s), you do not become an expert in Palestinian issues by watching the news a few times a week and then writing what you assume to be pithy and poignant poetry. Revard's poetry is beautifully crafted and clearly demonstrates his passion for his mixed heritage, but when I discovered near the end of the book that he decided to dance around the precipitous edge of politics, I became disappointed.