Absence of Angels

Penn, W. S.

ISBN 10: 0806127147 / ISBN 13: 9780806127149

Published by University of Oklahoma Press, 1995

About this Item

Unread book in perfect condition.

Seller Inventory # 246331

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Absence of Angels
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806127147
• ISBN 13: 9780806127149
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

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 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.

About the Author

W.S. Penn, an urban mixblood, is a resident fiction writer and teacher of American Indian and Comparative Literature at Michigan State University. He is the winner of the 1993 North American Indian Prose Award