This is an astonishing tale of survival 'with more psychological
depth than Robinson Crusoe*'; very poignant and based on true events.
It delves deeper into its themes of survival and endurance than his
previous novel The Great Death and
delivers a stark and profound tale. The spare and evocative writing
pays a great respect to the immense power of the elements and offers a
fascinating insight into the lives of indigenous Alaskan Natives.
This is an astonishing tale of survival; a poignant Robinson Crusoe story, based on true events. When Seth and his dog, Tucker, are washed overboard from his father's fishing boat during a torrential storm, they are assumed drowned. But by good fortune, Seth and Tucker make it safely to one of the hundreds of islands that line the Alaskan coast. Over many months, the boy and his dog make their way, island by island, towards home, while Seth's desperate father never gives up hope. Along the way, Seth learns many hard lessons about survival, and even harder lessons about himself.
John E. Smelcer was born in 1963, and is of Ahtna Athabaskan Indian descent. Currently the Executive Director of the Ahtna Tribe's Heritage Foundation, he has held visiting professorships at universities around the world. He earned a doctorate in comparative literature in 1993 and a masters degree in literature and humanities in 1991. He is faculty at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
His work appears in numerous international anthologies by the likes of Random House, Dover, and American Indian Press. In 1994 he edited Durable Breath: Contemporary Native American Poetry (Salmon Run & American Indian Press). His poems have appeared in such periodicals as The Atlantic Monthly, and he is poetry editor at Rosebud, among the nation's most prestigious quarterlies of poetry and fiction.
