A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
This novel, narrated by Baldy, a Navajo/Hopi guitar player, tells the story of Zuni folk singer Painted Turtle, from her childhood experiences on the reservation to her performances in cantinas in the Southwest. First published in 1988 and long out of print, this work from Clarence Major follows Painted Turtle as she seeks to assuage the spiritual sicknesses that have shaped her uneasy relationships with family, friends, and her tribe.
An award-winning painter and author of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, Clarence Major is a distinguished professor emeritus of twentieth-century American literature at the University of California, Davis. His novel My Amputations, winner of a Western States Book Award, was reissued in 2008.
