The Back of the Turtle (37 page)

Authors: Thomas King

BOOK: The Back of the Turtle

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About the Author

Thomas King
is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, scriptwriter, and photographer of Cherokee and Greek descent. His critically acclaimed, bestselling fiction includes
Medicine River
;
Green Grass, Running Water
;
Truth and Bright Water
;
One Good Story, That One
; and
A Short History of Indians in Canada
.
The Inconvenient Indian
, a work of non-fiction, won several national prizes and was described by Joseph Boyden as “destined to become a classic of historical narrative.” In addition to its many award distinctions,
Green Grass, Running Water
was named to
Quill & Quire
’s Best Canadian Fiction of the Century list. A member of the Order of Canada and the recipient of an award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Thomas King taught at the University of Lethbridge and was Chair of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota before moving to the University of Guelph.

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praise for
GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER

“Impressively ambitious and funny.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“With this brilliant, enduring novel, King has demonstrated an apparently effortless mastery over narrative.”
—The Globe and Mail

“King is equally at home with his vivid, often comic characters and with the vibrant natural world in which their dramas are played out.”
—People

“With this clever, vastly entertaining novel, King establishes himself firmly as one of the first rank of contemporary Native American writers—and as a gifted storyteller of universal relevance.”
—Publishers Weekly

praise for
TRUTH AND BRIGHT WATER

“A storyteller of the first order…. [
Truth and Bright Water
] is a world only Thomas King could create, whimsical and contemporary and smart, rooted and knowing and sad.”
—The Globe and Mail

“A sparkling triumph.”
—Toronto Star

“The dialogue crackles with intensity and wit, and the story is littered with radiant objects that reflect the lives of the characters…. [King] has mixed the banal and profound to create something like life—only more startling and truthful.”
—The Gazette
(Montreal)

praise for
THE INCONVENIENT INDIAN

“Fascinating, often hilarious, always devastatingly truthful,
The Inconvenient Indian
is destined to become a classic of historical narrative. For those who wish to better understand Native peoples, it is a must read. For those who don’t wish to understand, it is even more so.” —Joseph Boyden

“Sharply intellectual and informative, yet humorous and delightfully human…. Outstanding.”
—National Post

“Essential reading for everyone who cares about Canada and who seeks to understand Native people, their issues and their dreams…. Thomas King is beyond being a great writer and storyteller, a lauded academic and educator. He is a towering intellectual. For Native people in Canada, he is our Twain; wise, hilarious, incorrigible, with a keen eye for the inconsistencies that make us and our society flawed, enigmatic, but ultimately powerful symbols of freedom.” —
The Globe and Mail

“Brilliantly insightful…. Humour aside, this is an unflinching, occasionally fierce work. Natives are often chided for dwelling too much on the past, yet if this book proves anything, it’s that it behooves all of us to do a lot more of exactly that.”
—Quill & Quire

“Subversive, entertaining, well-researched, hilarious [and] enraging…. In this thoughtful, irascible account, and in characteristically tricksterish mode, King presents a provocative alternative version of Canada’s heritage narrative.” —RBC Taylor Prize jury citation

Credits

COVER ART: HELEN HOY

Copyright

The Back of the Turtle
Copyright © 2014 by Dead Dog Café Productions Inc.

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EPUB Edition AUGUST 2014 ISBN 9781443431644

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

FIRST EDITION

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