Leslie Marmon Silko: Ceremony, Almanac of the Dead, Gardens in the Dunes

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A major American writer at the turn of this millennium, Leslie Marmon Silko has also been one of the most powerful voices in the flowering of Native American literature since the publication of her 1977 novel Ceremony. This guide, with chapters written by leading scholars of Native American literature, explores Silko's major novels Ceremony, Almanac of the Dead, and Gardens in the Dunes as an entryway into the full body of her work that includes poetry, essays, short fiction, film, photography, and other visual art. These chapters map Silkos place in the broad context of American literary history. Further, they trace her pivotal role in prompting other Indigenous writers to enter the conversations she helped to launch. Along the way, the book engages her historical themes of land, ethnicity, race, gender, trauma, and healing, while examining her narrative craft and her mythic lyricism.

Reviews

This sterling collection of essays on Silkos three novels builds on and extends the extensive Silko scholarship in multiple dimensions and to ambitious depth. Divided into three sectionsone for each of the novelsthe nine essays, taken together, reveal and explore themes that run throughout. Moore provides effective introductions to the collection as a whole and to each of the sections. As he explains in the opening introduction, the conceit running throughout is the twin notions of "witness and testimony," secondary to Silkos project "to reveal the mythic dimensions of modern history and the historical momentum of ancient myth." The collection provides a complex theoretical web that speaks to "outside" audiences of resistance and representation. Within this overarching theme, the collection explores implications of gender, race, ethnicity, cultural practices and world views, spiritual dimensions of reality, the structure and performance of stories and storytellingand so much more. This is a powerful book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * CHOICE *
[P]leasurable to read ... With gardening in mind, we could say that Moores collection has been well tended. Its critical diversity holds wide appeal ... the collection is useful as a study of Silko and the novel form. And Moores introductory essays alone make investment in the collection worthwhile. * American Indian Quarterly *

Author Bio

David L. Moore is Professor in the Department of English at the University of Montana, USA. Widely published in Native American literary studies, he is the author of 'That Dream Shall Have a Name': Native Americans Rewriting America (2013).