Abandoned as a youth by his mother, an Eskimo man learns of the art of shamanism from the woman who adopts him, confronts a white stranger in the remote Canadian wilderness, and faces a final disgrace
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In the black hours of a wintry night Inuit hunters fight their way through a storm to the camp of the administrator of Baffin Island. Their dog sled carries a dying man who clearly terrifies them. Revived by the officer, the man, Shoona, lives long enough to tell his story.
An unwanted orphan in his youth, Shoona is taught to be a ?spirit wrestler,? a shaman capable of influencing the demons and spirits that control human destiny. Revered at first for his magic, Shoona becomes a feared outcast when his enemies are overtaken by uncanny and fatal events. Then, out of pride, he steals the sacred amulets of the powerful sea goddess Sedna, and is confronted by a mysterious white man who is obsessed with Inuit lore, and who soon attracts Shoona?s wife.
Compelling in narrative, rich in character and authentic background, Spirit Wrestler is a saga of the 1950s that illuminates the striking interplay of legend and reality. Long after its startling conclusion, this tale will live on hauntingly in the memory of readers.
James Houston, a Canadian author-artist, served with the Toronto Scottish Regiment in World War II, 1940-45, then lived among the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic for twelve years as a Northern Service Officer, and the first Administrator of west Baffin Island, a territory of 65,000 square miles. Widely acknowledged as the prime force in the development of Inuit art, he is past chairman of both the American Indian Arts Centre and the Association on American Indian and Eskimo Cultural Foundation Award, the 1979 Inuit Kuavati Award of Merit, and the 1997 Royal Geographic Society’s Massey Medal, and is an officer of the Order of Canada.
Among his writings, The White Dawn has been published in thirty-one editions worldwide. That novel and Ghost Fox, Spirit Wrestler, and Eagle Song have been selections of major book clubs. Running West won the Canadian Authors Association Book of the Year Award, while his novel, The Ice Master, also appeared in Spanish translation. Author and illustrator of seventeen children’s books, he is the only person to have won the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award three times. His most recent children’s book is Fire and Ice, about creating glass sculpture. He has also written screenplays for feature films, has created numerous documentaries and continues to lecture widely.
His drawings, paintings, and sculptures are internationally represented in many museums including the St. Petersburg Museum in Florida and private collections including that of the King of Saudi Arabia. He is Master Designer for Steuben Glass, with one hundred and ten pieces to his credit. He created the seventy-foot-high central sculpture in the Glenbow-Alberta Art Museum. In 1999 Canada’s National Museum of Civilization devoted its show “Iqqaipaa” to the art of the Arctic in James Houston’s time, and he played a central role in organizing the exhibition.
He and his wife Alice divided their time between a colonial privateer’s house in New England and a writing retreat on the bank of a salmon river on the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, where he has written a large part of his trilogy of memoirs, Confessions of an Igloo Dweller, Zigzag, and Hideaway.
James Houston passed away in 2005 at the age of 83.
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Seller: Chapter 1, Johannesburg, GAU, South Africa
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. the jacket is bit edge worn and shelf rubbed. internally clean and tightly bound. [P.K.]. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Seller Inventory # 1ev
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Seller: Tom Coleman, Dingwall, ROSS, United Kingdom
FIRST EDITION. Hardback. 8vo. 8.5 x 5 inches. Blue cloth with gilt titles. 306 pages. Map. Very Good tight-bound volume in VG price-clipped dustwrapper. "The book is irresistible, eloquently conveying hidden subtleties of an unfamuiliar culture." New York Times. Seller Inventory # 4823
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Seller: Syber's Books, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Hardcover (Original Cloth). Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Blue coloured boards with gilt coloured titles to the back strip. Photographic dustwrapper (wraparound) with blue and white coloured titles to the front panel and back strip. Black and white photograph of author to the rear fold over panel. Set on the remote Baffin Island and involves a Inuit shaman called Shoona, a white man, Morgan, obsessed with Eskimo / Inuit law and how he has an of profound effect on all he meets. The story is recalled by Shoona to a Canadian Northern Service Officer as he lay dying in the officer's office. A good copy of this book most often seen as a paperback in the "Fantasy" section of second-hand book shops. A little rubbing of the book edges with some age toning of the text block edges and pages. Minor rubbing of the dustwrapper edges and panels. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 307 pp., + 3 blank. Please refer to accompanying picture (s). Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilo. Category: Literature & Literary; ISBN: 0002224089. ISBN/EAN: 9780002224086. Inventory No: 0203776. Seller Inventory # 0203776
Quantity: 1 available