Winterkill: A Novel [Paperback]

Craig Lesley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1996

Winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award

From the two-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award: a deeply moving and evocative novel of fathers and sons. Danny Kachiah is a Native American fighting not to become a casualty. His father, Red Shirt, is dead; his wife, Loxie, has left him, and his career as a rodeo cowboy is flagging. But when Loxie dies in a car wreck, leaving him with his son, Jack, whom he hardly knows, Danny uses the magnificent stories of Red Shirt to guide him toward true fatherhood. Together, Danny and Jack begin to make a life from the dreams of yesterday and the ruins of today's northwestern reservations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Unforgettable . . . prose as clear as the morning air."—The Boston Globe

"What strikes me first about Craig Lesley's book is the astonishing compassion he extends to the characters that people this moving novel . . . An impressive debut."—Raymond Carver

"Profoundly lyrical . . . Lesley has a rare gift for evoking a timeless quality in a setting littered with modern icons . . . The honky-tonk glitter of the rodeo gives way to the mystical, sometimes brutal beauty of the wilderness."—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Danny Kachiah remains a figure of complexity, struggling toward salvation . . . an everyman who could stand in for any one of us."—The Los Angeles Times

"A beautiful picture of family love and loyalty in a society from which we've had few such pictures."—Reynolds Price

About the Author

Craig Lesley is a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. He has received the the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award for both Winterkill and for his third novel, The Sky Fisherman. He is also the author of River Song and Storm Riders. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and two daughters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Picador (December 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312152442
• ISBN-13: 978-0312152444
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, September 26, 2000

By 

Edward Bosnar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winterkill: A Novel (Paperback)

I basically read "Winterkill" in one sitting. It's an excellent story about fathers and sons and the family history that both brings them together and also creates walls between them. Through the principal character, Danny Kachiah, Lesley weaves an absolutely engrossing story of a contemporary Native American family. In the process, he also tells something about the nation (in this case the Nez Perce of Eastern Oregon) and its history, and how this history weighs down on its descendents. The story is never anything but believable-the characters are very realistic, and Lesley's portrayal of life among the "reservation Indians" is brutally honest. Also, there is no climatic "redemption" or catharsis or any of the other cliched conclusions that can usually be found in similar "family drama" literature. This is what makes "Winterkill" so much like real life, as it deals with slow growth and the painful ups and downs that generally mark interpersonal relations. There's not much more I can really add here, except to say that this is the best piece of fiction I've read in a long time.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent fiction with characters of great depth, October 28, 2004

By 

chefdevergue (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Winterkill: A Novel (Paperback)

I do not read much current fiction. There is a lot of stuff coming out every day that ranges from mediocre to simply god-awful, and who knows what you are going to get when you pick up a book? I only have so much time available to read books, so it is too valuable to waste on crappy fiction. Therefore I tend to avoid the newer stuff until the chaff has been sifted out.

This was an exception. I stumbled onto "The Reader" while this novel was being featured. It was about two-thirds of the way through the book, and after listening to two episodes, I was hooked and grabbed a copy at the nearest bookstore to read for myself.

It is a touching story that appeals to the reader on many levels. The exploration of the two father-son relationships should ring true for many readers, as should Danny's attempts to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer a young man who can easily withstand the rigors of the rodeo circuit. Danny is a marvelously complex character who intrigues the reader. Lesley is careful not to make Danny seem overly heroic or noble, for that would simply make him into a caricature. Instead, he becomes a character that all too many of us can relate to, regardless of our ethnicity.

For the reviewer that complained that "by the end of the novel nothing in the plot has been solved or put to rest," I feel that that was one of the stronger aspects of the book, and would gently point out that few things in real life wrap up neatly at the end of a 30 or 60-minute episode. This is fiction we are talking about, not fantasy.

Lesley richly deserves the two Pulitzer nominations he has garnered, and perhaps someday it will be a win and not just a nomination. He is one of a handful of contemporary authors whose work I will read without hesitation.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved the book, first one I read of Craig Lesley. AWSOME., August 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Winterkill: A Novel (Paperback)

I really enjoyed the book, I am from the northwest, so some of the places that he talks about in the book, I actually have been there. I love how he mentions some Reservations that were burried under the dam. Like Spearfish,, I haven't heard that in a long time. I love that Danny is getting to know his son Jack. And how he thinks back about Red Shirt. He is a great writer, and I will be reading some more of his books very soon.