Poet and novelist Shann Ray grew up in Montana and Alaska and spent part of his childhood on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. His work has been featured in Poetry, Esquire, McSweeney's, Prairie Schooner, Big Sky Journal, Narrative, and Salon. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow and winner of the American Book Award and the High Plains Book Award, he is the author of American Masculine, American Copper, Atomic Theory 432, The Garment of Praise (a libretto), Blood Fire Vapor Smoke, Balefire, Sweetclover, and Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity. A clinical psychologist specializing in the psychology of men, he teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga University.
Because of his wife and three daughters, he believes in love.
Praise for SHANN RAY:
"An expansive and luminous tale of the American West told through crystalline prose. American Copper ushers Shann Ray into the company of Montana’s finest writers. It’s a read as compelling as Harrison’s masterwork Legends of the Fall and Kittredge’s Willow Field. Heartbreaking and heart pounding and not to be missed.”
--Debra Magpie Earling, author of Perma Red
"Shann Ray's prose brings to mind Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx but is, thankfully, entirely his own. His work is lyrical, prophetic, brutal yet ultimately hopeful."
--Dave Eggers, National Book Critics Circle Award finalist for WHAT IS THE WHAT
"Shann Ray writes about small western towns and their residents in tough, poetic, and beautiful ways. I recognize many of these people, and that's good, but I'm also surprised and stunned by many others, which is great. Buy the book and read it tonight. You'll love it, too."
--Sherman Alexie, National Book Award Winner for THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN, Pen Faulkner Award Winner for WAR DANCES
"Written in prose both fierce and elegant... with stories set in and around the reservation lands of the American West, Shann Ray hones the cutting edge between desire and need, despair and beauty. The scope of these stories and depth of their complexity result in an extraordinary collection that is the gift of an exceptional talent. I am reminded once again, of what it means to encounter genuine grace."
--Claire Davis, author of WINTER RANGE
"The sentences in this book have such grace and muscularity that they seem more performed than written, and the author's images and events carry the nearly visceral weight of memory... a powerful, resonant work of literature... Shann Ray is a masterful and original writer."
--Robert Boswell, Bakeless Prize Judge
"Shann Ray has been up close with the vividly contrary complexities of the present-day American West, the harshness and sweetness. He's seen a lot of vast and miniscule things, and tells of them with compelling honesty. What a fine break-out..."
--William Kittredge, author of HOLE IN THE SKY
"Shann Ray knows his place and he knows his people. With a great deal of moral heft, dig[ing] deep into the heart of a landscape and more importantly into the hearts of flawed men and women whose lives, in Ray's hands, are given real weight and meaning. I'm grateful... for the depth of these characters and the beautiful patience of this writing."
--Peter Orner, author of THE SECOND COMING OF MAVALA SHICONGO
"Powerful fiction, reveal[ing] Shann Ray's unique voice, his lyrical vision of the West, and his always-eloquent contemplation of the mysteries of grace and forgiveness."
--Jess Walter, National Book Award finalist for THE ZERO
"Shann Ray writes about men and women, white and Native American, full bred and half bred; he writes about love and betrayal, alcohol and abuse, pride, vanity, everyday losses and recoveries transpiring in ranch towns and small cities. Most of all he writes about the soul in search of its reason and its peace."
--Tom Jenks, Editor, Narrative Magazine
Co-editor with Raymond Carver of AMERICAN SHORT STORY MASTERPIECES
"Bold. Lyrical. Deeply felt. Fiercely written.
In these stories, Shann Ray grapples with the terrible hurt we inflict on those we love, and finds that reconciliation, if far off, is at least possible." --Graywolf
Read more
Read less
