Research Catalog

Title

The absence of angels / by W.S. Penn.

Author

Penn, W. S., 1949-

Publication

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

274 p.; 22 cm.

Summary

"The narrator-protagonist of this magical novel about urban mixed-blood Indian life is Albert (Alley) Hummingbird, a self-conscious, shy college student who masks his feelings with humor and who longs to reconcile the two cultures that have formed him. Alley is not supposed to live at birth, but his grandfather, a Nez Perce, rescues him from Death (who reappears throughout the novel as a petty, mean, pathetic, and ultimately funny character). The grandfather's teachings to Alley, which come from the afterlife region known as the "absence of angels," connect Alley to his Indian heritage when he most needs it. Otherwise his life is fragmented: a father who rejected his heritage, a mother who is slightly mad, and a friend, Sara, with whom Alley is in love."--Jacket.

Series Statement

American Indian literature and critical studies series ; v. 14

Uniform Title

American Indian literature and critical studies series v. 14.

Subject

• Man-woman relationships > California > Los Angeles > Fiction
• College students > California > Los Angeles > Fiction
• Indians of North America > Mixed descent > Fiction
• Young men > California > Los Angeles > Fiction
• Nez Percé Indians > Fiction
• College students > Fiction
• Young men > Fiction
• Los Angeles (Calif.) > Fiction

Genre/Form

• Bildungsromans
• Love stories
• Fiction

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

ISBN

0806127147

LCCN

^^^94034607^

OCLC

• 31076409
• SCSB-12197930

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library