David Treuer is an Ojibwe Indian from Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Canada, a Pushcart Prize, the 1996 Minnesota Book Award and was a finalist for the Penn West prize in 1999. The Translation of Dr Apelles is his third novel. He divides his time between his home on the Leech Lake Reservation and Minneapolis.
"Stunning. . . . Treuer's edgy romance celebrates our love for each
other, love for the earth and love of story, the way we make sense
of life in all its wildness." —Los Angeles Times
"Deeply crafty, shape-shifting. . . . [Treuer] seems to want to do
for Native American culture and literature what James Joyce did for
the Irish: haul it into the mainstream of Western culture through
sheer nerve and verve." —The Washington Post
"The Translation of Dr Apelles . . . provides new layers of
information and meaning with every pass. This Escher-esque
craftsmanship dazzles." —The Seattle Times
“David Treuer is mounting a challenge to the whole idea of Indian
identity as depicted by both Native and white writers."
—The New York Times
“Smart, sweet . . . well-crafted, clever. . . . Treuer juggles
multiple elements with skill and confidence: literary satire,
metafictional gamesmanship and cultural truth-telling.” —Star
Tribune
Dr. Apelles, a middle-aged Native American scholar, is translating a captivating Native American myth about a young man and a young woman, both orphaned as babies and raised in a town on the edge of the frontier in the northern Midwest. As they grow up, Bimaadiz and Eta fall in love, and the myth traces their gradual coming together. There are daring rescues, passionate love scenes, pastoral interludes, and murderous rivalries. Dr. Apelles himself is a shy introspective man who realizes the shortcomings of his own life as he reads the myth. Working at a library book storage facility called RECAP, described in Orwellian terms by the author, he gradually begins a relationship with a beautiful younger coworker named Campaspe. As the young Bimaadiz and Eta move toward consummating their love at a wedding feast and tribal gathering, the translation itself, both literally and figuratively, becomes a focal point that threatens the relationship of the doctor and Campaspe. While the original myth is told in a straightforward manner, the sections concerning the doctor's life shift perspectives in a dreamlike style. The power of imagination, love, and the written word come across in this engaging tale. Recommended for fiction collections. Jim Coan, SUNY at Oneonta Lib. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
"Stunning. . . . Treuer's edgy romance celebrates our love for each
other, love for the earth and love of story, the way we make sense
of life in all its wildness." -Los Angeles Times
"Deeply crafty, shape-shifting. . . . [Treuer] seems to want to do
for Native American culture and literature what James Joyce did for
the Irish: haul it into the mainstream of Western culture through
sheer nerve and verve." -The Washington Post
"The Translation of Dr Apelles . . . provides new layers of
information and meaning with every pass. This Escher-esque
craftsmanship dazzles." -The Seattle Times
"David Treuer is mounting a challenge to the whole idea of Indian
identity as depicted by both Native and white writers."
-The New York Times
"Smart, sweet . . . well-crafted, clever. . . . Treuer juggles
multiple elements with skill and confidence: literary satire,
metafictional gamesmanship and cultural truth-telling." -Star
Tribune
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