| Ordinary Wolves |  | Author: Seth Kantner
Publisher: Topeka Bindery
Category: Book
Buy New: $25.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  37 reviews
Media: Library Binding
Number Of Items: 1
ISBN: 1417769963
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781417769964
ASIN: 1417769963
Publication Date: August 2005
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
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Product Description
A stirring and vivid novel about a white boy raised among natives on the harsh Alaskan tundra, Ordinary Wolves depicts a life different from what most people have ever known. In its pages, Cutuk, a boy equally uncomfortable in the ways of whites and Inupiaq, tells of his youth and young adulthood: of his father, who brought his family to Alaska from Chicago before Cutuk's birth; of his adopted Inupiaq family; and of the vast Arctic expanse beneath the frozen sky. It is here that Cutuk grows up - hunting, fishing, and living off the land, far away from the grinding, yet beckoning, machine of consumer culture.
Dispelling all mythical visions of Alaska, this evocative novel leads readers down its true trails, to feel the icy pinch of cold, to hunker as blizzards moan overhead. And in the twilit spaces from which animals appear are the wolves - and Cutuk's father - living their lives out on the tundra, unobtrusive, unapologetic, uninvolved in the world beyond.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
 Best book on Alaska July 12, 2008
As far as I can tell this is the best book yet written on Alaska -- better than London, Service, or Krakauer -- the first truly literary product by a native-born Alaskan.
The author's descriptions of characters, whether they be native-born, born-native, Outside arriver, or simple tourist; wild landscapes, villages and cities; weather and wildlife are so authentic and deep, it's hard not to race through a first reading, like you might hurry across a stunning mtn range to catch yet another incredible view, even better than the last.
But it's the second reading of "Ordinary Wolves" that I found more satisfying than the first, a reading prompted after Kantner's refreshing non-fiction, "Shopping for Porcupine". The second reading of "Wolves" I savored, like you might floating down a wild river with subtle, bank-side as well as long-range scenes of sublime colors and textures.
While it's an authentic story of Alaska, it's also an emotional one about the value and contradictions of family, friends, and self, a complex personal story that tracks a universal, human vein.
We Alaskans are lucky to have Seth among us and I look forward to whatever he writes next.
a favorite, a great one to pass along to friends June 25, 2008
I'm here to order a second copy to give to family members, as my own much-lent copy is out in the world somewhere.... I stumbled on this book by accident in a store and it was the best book I read that year. Everyone I've lent it to has been captivated. The writing is gorgeous, however used: observations of the natural world, interior reflections of the main character, conversations, plot movement.... What's so wonderful is that Kantner's storytelling gifts and writerly gifts are rather a bonus to a sort of travelogue that's the heart of the book-- the physical landscape and cultural setting are foreign enough to us East Coasters. The main character is on a journey, too. He is open, appealing, sympathetic in his struggles. You're in his particular Alaska; you won't want to leave.
 Ordinary Wolves -- not ordinary at all! June 13, 2008
Seth Kantner's first "eco-novel" has such an authentic feel to it that you will come to consider Cutuk as a shadow friend--or at the least--an acquaintance whom you know well.
Caught between two cultures, Cutuk is "Ordinary Wolves" everyman, the principal character with whom you will identify, experience triumph and suffer, feel anger, shame and joy. Coming from a white home in Inupiaq Alaska, through Cutuk you will learn what it is like to feel like an outsider. To white Americans in the lower 48 and in the non-native parts of Alaska, this is a strange and unsettling feeling. For the first time, you are a stranger in a strange land. Such a feeling for cultural authenticity--the good, the bad and the ugly. It is all there, non-romanticized. Ironically, when Cutuk leaves the north country, he feels more out-of-place walking the streets of Anchorage than "back home."
"Ordinary Wolves" is a great first book. The reason for four stars only is that the pacing is a little uneven; and I believe, it runs about twenty pages too long. Some keen-eyed editing to eliminate redundant passages and non-essential narrative would have made it even better.
A great first work, however, one not to be missed.
A Tale of Truth November 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
So, I notice that Alaskans are all giving this a 5 star rating (including the ones from "Crotch Spit"). And, Nick Jans himself has taken the time to write a review. I too was moved by the shear truth of it all. Anyone who wants to know the true bush Alaska life should read this book. In Pulitzer Prize winner quality writing Kantner tells a tale of heartache and hope. This isn't the polished up Alaska for tourists. This is Alaska for those of us who live here. Finally! Thank you Seth.
Give yourself a treat May 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the best books I have read. The different perspectives Kantner shares are well written and humananly believable. If you like people, travel, animals, and a good story - you will love this.
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