Nickajack [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert J. Conley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

Nickajack finds himself caught between warring factions within the Cherokee Nation after his people are removed from their ancestral lands and relocated to the Indian territory. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most underrated and overlooked writers of our time, as well as the most skilled."--Don Coldsmith

"[Conley] is in the ranks of . Scott Momaday, Louise Erdich, James Welch or W.P. Kinsella as interpreters of the many facets of the native American experience."--Joseph C. Porter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

ROBERT J. CONLEY, a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees, is the author of over forty books and the recipient of three Spur Awards. He lives in Oklahoma with his wife, Evelyn, also a Cherokee. Mr. Conley writes full time and is currently at work on the fourth book in the ongoing adventures of Kid Parmlee. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 10 pages
• Publisher: Domain (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553562568
• ISBN-13: 978-0553562569
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,870,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful.moving and impassioned tale of injustice, May 7, 2003

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nickajack (Mass Market Paperback)

Nickajack is a short book ,but in terms of the themes it addresses it is one of the "biggest "books to come my way in a very long time.
A western ,set for the most part in Oklahoma ,in the new Cherokee National lands its central character is the eponymous Nickajack ,who is on trial for murder .The charge is political,the result of deep divisions within the new nation settled on its new terrotory.
The state is riven by factionalism ,the contending parties being those forced into exile ,along the bitter "Trail of Tears"by fraudulent,cynical treaties ,and anothrer party that has embraced the exile from their homeland,if not willingly then in a tradition of "realpolitik".It is a conflict that has seen murder done .
Nickajack-an apolitical man with a deep sense of family-is unjustly accused of murder ,and much of the novel unfolds in the form of his reflections as he listens to the evidence unfold in the courtroom

The book is the tale of a dualistic tragedy -for the man himself,and for his tribe .In plain but heartrending prose the author lays bare the corruption of the system of government that gave rise to the genocide of the USA's traetment of its minority groups ,and the human tragedy that lies at the heart of all such actions.

The ending is heartbreaking ,but you will not forget a major novel by a major -if ridiculously neglected -writer.
Read it--please !