After the Civil War, Walker Avary leaves Boston to seek his own place in the world, wandering through the western wilderness before settling in Wyoming's remote Wind River Valley with a young Native American woman whose tribe had been destroyed by encounters with white settlers. 15,000 first printing."
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus Reviews
Turning Wyoming's Wind River Mountains into a shadowland where dream intermingles with reality, Henderson returns to the territory of his first novel, Native (1993), to follow a 19th-century loner in his quest for his own unique place. Even having already gone from New England to San Francisco by sea, young Walker Avary still isn't free of wanderlust, so he makes use of the new transcontinental railroad to seek his destiny in the unmapped wilderness of the Wyoming Territory. He resists the advances en route of a girl from Kentucky, then shares his trail briefly with a teenage saloon singer, a matchup that ends when the singer is forced to flee a posse coming after the horse she's stolen. Walker's search for the ineffable taking him ever farther from civilization, he finds a pristine lake in the Wind River high country where he decides to build a lodge for travelers. He also comes across an Indian girl, seemingly the last of her tribe, who shows him caches of food and furs, keeps him warm through a bone- chilling winter, and helps him construct his house, rock-solid and with an incomparable view. Walker's first guests in the lodge are cattlemen who've moved into the valley below, but during a night of revelry his Indian maid is raped and runs away. Persuaded by the ranch owner to stake a formal claim on his piece of paradise, Walker starts with him to Cheyenne, sharing a homoerotic moment with the man's teenage son along the way. A violent encounter in an Army fort sends Walker back to his refuge--where he finds still another young girl alone, who comes with him to share his vision. Plot details can't start to convey the hypnotic attraction of place in this walkabout through the wilderness that transforms near-random events into a mysterious evocation of human longing at its most extreme. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
Young Walker Avary has had his fill of the sea, and so he takes to the land. Setting off from San Francisco shortly after the end of the Civil War, he heads into the Wyoming territory.... In his second novel, William Haywood Henderson chronicles Avary's journey as he meanders the countryside he chooses to call home. Along the way, the laconic lad seems to have little trouble meeting women who are instantly attracted to him--or perhaps to the sturdy American pioneerism he represents. -- The New York Times Book Review, Charles Salzberg
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Erotica of the Landscape,
By Regina Lynn "Author and columnist, beat: rela... (Penn Valley, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rest of the Earth (Hardcover)
Henderson's writing has improved since his first novel "Native," which was no slouch in the prose department itself. Despite the adventurous and even sexy plot, this is not a book to zip through in one sitting. Henderson's unique groove needs to steep in the sun or laze in the shade to come into its full splendor. Take your time with this one, savor its tastes and hum its melody, and it will change the way you look at landscape forever
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A modern classic,
By Andidu "andidu" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Rest of the Earth (Paperback)
This is not a work to read in a long weekend, which is what I loved about it. The language is elaborate, surreal, smart, gorgeous, and complicated. The story itself is simple: Walker Avary wants to build on some land in the Wyoming territory. But the rendering is anything but simple, and leaves you feeling you've experienced something epic in its dimensions. A must read for folks who have tired of the "quick read." It's easy to see why Annie Proulx fell in love with Henderson's writing.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A monumental work from true craftsman, a modern classic,
This review is from: The Rest of the Earth (Paperback)
To follow Walker Avery through The Rest of the Earth is to take a spritual voyage through a dreamy American landscape. Henderson's etherial prose evokes deep longing, but does it honestly, without manipulation or trickery. Henderson suprised with new spiritual possibilities, and forgotten emotions from deep within. With this book, Henderson has honed his craft to a level uncommon in modern American literature. Experience its magic. I have never read anthing like it and cannot wait for his next.
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