John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints
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Books
Introduction
This page lists some recommendations for background reading prior to a American or Canadian holiday.
Michael Blake: Dances With Wolves
The book on which the well known film was based. A soldier in the US Army gets cut off from the other members of his regiment and lives with the Native Americans. The book is rather better than the film but neither can be considered as masterpieces.
Dee Brown: Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee - An Indian History Of The American West
Dee Brown: Creek Mary's Blood
Fiction.
John Byrne Cooke: The Snowblind Moon
Fiction. A story based around the events at the climax of the Indian Wars in the West.
Joe Cottonwood: Famous Potatoes
Fiction. A trip through America. The "Famous Potatoes" are the characters encountered along the way. Sensitive readers may be offended by some the language and incidents in this book.
Stephen Crane: The Red Badge Of Courage
Fiction. Set during the American Civil War. Harrowing in places.
Andrew Garcia: Tough Trip Through Paradise
William Least Heat-Moon: Blue Highways
Sarah Jane Full Hill: Mrs Hill's Journal - Civil War Reminiscences
Peter Jenkins: A Walk Across America
Autobiographical. The story of the author's attempt to walk across America. The first of a series; the second book is called The Walk West.
Garrison Keillor: Lake Wobegon Days
Fiction.
Jack Kerouac: On The Road
Jack London: Various Short Stories
Fiction. Including "Call Of The Wild". Suitable for all ages.
James Michener: Centennial
Fiction.
This book was published in 1976, to coincide with the Bicentennial - two hundred years after the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The book is set in the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, on the non-fictional South Platte River, northeast of Denver. It starts in geological times and progresses through the lives of dinosaurs, the Arapaho Indians, the mountain men and fur trappers, the Oregon Trail pioneers, the Indian wars, the farmers, the cowboys, the dustbowl era and so on up to the present day with its economic and environmental concerns.
Michener has an unfortunate habit of writing with enormous enthusiasm about characters in one chapter and then almost totally ignoring them in later chapters, but the book is still extremely highly recommended. Many readers will wish to skip the first two or three relatively uninteresting chapters on geology and dinosaurs and commence reading with the first chapter about the Indians before the arrival of the Europeans.
Centennial was made into a television mini-series.
John G Neihardt: Black Elk Speaks
Mystical but interesting.
Gurney Norman: Divine Right's Trip
Fiction. A "hippy" tale which includes some interesting insights into sixties America, first published in The Whole Earth Catalogue. Sensitive readers may be offended by some the language and incidents in this book.
Francis Parkman: The Oregon Trail
Robert Pirsig: Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance
Fiction. This book covers a wide range of subjects and gets extremely philosophical in places. However, its earlier sections include some good descriptions of a motor-cycle trip across the northern plains.
Conrad Richter: The Light In The Forest
Fiction.
Conrad Richter: The Awakening Land Trilogy - The Trees, The Fields, The Town
Fiction. Set in Ohio, following its history from early settlements to the creation of towns. This trilogy was made into a television mini-series.
Leo Rosten: The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N
Fiction. A humorous account of the experiences of newly-arrived immigrants in New York City.
Mari Sandoz: Cheyenne Autumn
Fiction.
Jack Shaefer: Shane And Other Stories
Fiction.
Eric Sloane: Diary Of An Early American Boy
The original diary is accompanied with comments and numerous drawings illustrating bridges, buildings, farm machinery, etc.
John Steinbeck: The Grapes Of Wrath
Fiction. Set in the Depression. The story of a family who moved west from the dust bowl to California.
Mark Twain: The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer
Fiction. While this book is intended mainly for children, its descriptions of life alongside the Mississippi River in the first half of the nineteenth century are well drawn and always interesting.
Mark Twain: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
Fiction. If "Tom Sawyer" is Mark Twain's "The Hobbit", then "Huckleberry Finn" is his "Lord Of The Rings". This book, with a more adult plot and a deeper, darker mood, often reveals more about the attitudes and the way of life of its characters by accident than design. Highly recommended.
A Rutgers Van Der Loeff: Children On The Oregon Trail
Fiction.
Various Authors: The Lewis and Clark Expedition
There are a number of books retelling the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. A public library is probably the best source.
Anna Lee Waldo: Sacajawea
Fiction. A biography of the famous member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The events during the Expedition are based closely on Lewis' and Clark's journals. The events before and especially after the Expedition are largely speculation and less interesting.
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Most recently modified 19-Aug-00