Crazy Brave: A Memoir - Hardcover

Harjo, Joy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393073467 ISBN 13: 9780393073461

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012

Synopsis

A spiritual coming-of-age memoir from a poet praised for her "breathtaking complex witness and world-remaking language" (Adrienne Rich).

In this transcendent memoir, grounded in tribal myth and ancestry, music and poetry, Joy Harjo, one of our leading Native American voices, details her journey to becoming a poet. Born in Oklahoma, the end place of the Trail of Tears, Harjo grew up learning to dodge an abusive stepfather by finding shelter in her imagination, a deep spiritual life, and connection with the natural world. She attended an Indian arts boarding school, where she nourished an appreciation for painting, music, and poetry; gave birth while still a teenager; and struggled on her own as a single mother, eventually finding her poetic voice. Narrating the complexities of betrayal and love, Crazy Brave is a memoir about family and the breaking apart necessary in finding a voice. Harjo’s tale of a hardscrabble youth, young adulthood, and transformation into an award-winning poet and musician is haunting, unique, and visionary. 19 photographs

About this title

About the Author:

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee Creek Nation and was named United States Poet Laureate in 2019. The author of eight books of poetry and a memoir, Crazy Brave, her many honors include the Jackson Poetry Prize, the Ruth Lilly Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Josephine Miles Poetry Award, the William Carlos Williams Award, and the American Indian Distinguished Achievement in the Arts Award. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she is a Tulsa Artist Fellow.

Review:

A saga about the survival of spirituality and creativity in the face of generations of racism, dispossession, and familial dysfunction...Fantastic, terrible and beautiful. — Rebecca Steinitz (Boston Globe)

Stirring...In her harrowing and ultimately hopeful story, Harjo allows the reader to know her intimately, and we are enriched by her honesty. — Ms.

A must-read for her fans and a fascinating door into her world for those new to her work. — Elizabeth Wilkinson (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Gritty and mystical...Reads like a sacred prayer. — San Francisco Chronicle

Exquisite...A must-read for anyone who appreciates the healing power of literature. — Southwest

Blunt, moving...[Affirms and acclaims] the artistic impulse. — Smithsonian

Dances into hard truth. [Harjo’s] fine crafting of words and deft braiding of mythic visions throughout the text almost—almost—draw you past the truth of her personal story. That story is harsh and scary, mystical and loving, and, ultimately, triumphant and healing. — Indian Country

Joy Harjo has always been able to see with more than her eyes. Her writing is a testament to this gift. Her memoir honors her own journey as well as those who fell along the wayside. Her hero’s journey is a gift for all those struggling to make their way. — Sandra Cisneros

Joy Harjo is a giant-hearted, gorgeous, and glorious gift to the world. Her belief in art, in spirit, is so powerful, it can’t help but spill over to us—lucky readers. Wildly passionate and honest as a hound, Crazy Brave invites us into a whole new way of seeing—deeper, less cluttered, and vastly more courageous than our own. It’s a book for people who want to re-fall in love with the world. — Pam Houston

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0393073467
• ISBN 13: 9780393073461
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 176