Kill Hole [Paperback]

Jamake Highwater (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 1993

From the best-selling novel Anpao to the perennially popular Myth and Sexuality and The Primal Mind, Jamake Highwater has been one of the most widely esteemed writers of our time. Kill Hole is a deeply imagined work of vision and strength that takes as its landscape that flashpoint where barriers are crossed and cultures interact. Sitko Ghost Horse escapes from the dying city into the desert, where he encounters the dream world of a tribe from another time and place. He is initiated into a ritual that requires him to verify his identity, and finds he cannot do so. Shifting between two levels of awareness, between a surreal prisoner state within the tribe and his quotidian urban existence, Sitko relives his past -- a violent childhood, separation from his parents, and adoption into a white family; his controversial success as a painter; and his relationship with a novelist, the son of a German mother and a black GI. Kill Hole dramatizes the predicament of people living between many worlds -- racial, sexual, artistic, and cultural -- and reflects the fundamental duality of that condition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Highwater's first novel in six years is an awkwardly written, disappointing continuation of his popular Ghost Horse cycle. Set in the immediate future, the overly complicated story concerns Sitko Ghost Horse, grandson of Amana (the protagonist of Legend Days and The Ceremony of Innocence ). Raised by whites and called Seymour Miller, Ghost Horse becomes a successful artist and awakens to his Native American heritage. His career is nearly wrecked, however, when rumors circulate that he isn't really Indian at all. An unnamed plague (remarkably like AIDS) then strikes the city, killing both enemies and friends, including his gay lover. Ghost Horse flees the decaying city only to stumble upon a mysterious tribal civilization that is about to perform one of its most sacred rituals; unless he can prove he is a bona fide Indian, he will be put to death as an interloper. He manages to escape into the surrounding desert, still pursued by the Indian leader, Delito. Given the widely circulated assertions that Highwater is not of Indian blood--as reported in the national Native American newspaper Akwesasne Notes and such books as Ward Churchill's recent Fantasies of the Master Race (Nonfiction Forecasts, Jan. 20)--this latest work comes off as thinly veiled self-justification with strong overtones of persecution and revenge fantasy.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Prolific, highly regarded Highwater brings the characters of his "Ghost Horse" cycle for children into an unsettling portrayal of loss, misunderstanding, and struggle for identity and purpose. While fleeing a horrible plague, Sitko Ghost Horse is captured by the priests of a mysterious tribe and imprisoned for allegedly bringing evil upon the local children. His long hours in prison, under the care of the enigmatic, increasingly sympathetic Patu, merge into near-hallucinatory memories. Sitko recalls his wise Grandma Amana and his admired, troubled brother Reno, his father's sickening homicidal spree, his splendid rise and unjust fall in the hip art world, and the decline of his companion Eric, victim of the plague. A plainspoken, poetic, frustrating, and provocative addition for active literary collections.
- Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (December 8, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802133703
• ISBN-13: 978-0802133700
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,801,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HIGHLY AND WIDELY PRAISED & NOT BASED ON WAGNER!!, September 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Kill Hole (Paperback)

I am the author, Jamake Highwater, despite Amazon.com data, this novel is NOT based on the Wagnerian Nibelungen. That synopsis belongs with my novel DARK LEGEND. As for KILL HOLE, I leave it to the London Times: "an extraordinary achievement, defying categorization. It is at once a quest, a tragedy, a political thrilller, and a cultural meditation. It is a remarkable work." Thanks London!!!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read!, April 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Kill Hole (Hardcover)

kill hole is one of the most arresting novels i've ever read. i recomend this brilliant work of literature to anyone who has an interest in spirituality, sexuality, psychology, or queer culture.