PRESS
The HEARTBEAT of WOUNDED KNEE
“The author shines . . . when he heads out on the road to meet with his relatives at Leech Lake or members of other tribes across the country. There are a delightful collection of characters . . . [Treuer] succeeds in this fine and timely work. It will certainly help usher in a new narrative for Native Americans.”
—NPR
“An informed, moving and kaleidoscopic portrait of ‘Indian survival, resilience, adaptability, pride and place in modern life. Rarely has a single volume in Native American history attempted such comprehensiveness . . . Ultimately, Treuer’s powerful book suggests the need for soul-searching about the meanings of American history and the stories we tell ourselves about this nation’s past.”
—New York Times Book Review
“[A] sweeping, essential history . . . It is in recounting more recent history that Mr. Treuer’s storytelling skills shine. . . . His writing sings.”
—The Economist
“Treuer dramatically picks up where Brown left off with this beautifully written narrative of the century. . . . Treuer . . . draws from his talents as a fiction writer and memoirist, his training as an anthropologist, and his personal experience. [A] prismatic book … The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee should soon be a classic.”
—The National Book Review
“A brilliant examination of the post conquest history of Native America through the lens of survival and resilience. [Treuer] doesn’t shrink from describing the horrors visited on Native Americans by the white man. But he celebrates the indomitable spirit of the tribes and their peoples.”
—“Writer’s Voice with Francesca Rheannon”
“We are still here is the cry that resounds throughout this provocative, passionate book. . . . Treuer presents a compelling narrative to challenge a familiar version of Native American history. . . . He supports that conviction with a wide-ranging history, blending in reporting and memoir too.”
—Barnes & Noble Review
“A welcome compendium of Indian voices and insights that will be fresh for many readers.”
—Newsday
“Treuer blends a scholar's tenacity with vivid reportage and personal anecdotes, but beneath his compassionate storytelling a magma of anger flows, reminiscent of the fire found in historian Ibram X. Kendi's 2016 Stamped From the Beginning, about race in the U.S. . . . The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee looks back unflinchingly at the suffering and self-reliance of Indians, sifting fresh insights from well-trod soil. Treuer concludes on an upbeat note, celebrating an emerging generation as it transforms Indian identity. Beautifully written and argued, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee dares to imagine, even in our own cynical time, the arc of history bending toward justice.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“In his sweeping, consistently illuminating and personal The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, David Treuer, a member of the Ojibwe tribe, offers a compelling counter narrative to popular U.S. history with a combination of reportage, interviews and memoir about American Indian life in the recent past. . . . This engrossing volume should interest anyone who wants to better understand how Native Americans have struggled to preserve their tribes and cultures, using resourcefulness and reinvention in the face of overwhelming opposition.”
—BookPage
“In a marvel of research and storytelling, an Ojibwe writer traces the dawning of a new resistance movement born of deep pride and a reverence for tradition. Treuer’s chronicle of rebellion and resilience is a manifesto and rallying cry.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine
“Treuer … presents a more nuanced and hopeful vision of the past and future of Native Americans.”
—Vanity Fair
“[Treuer’s] forthcoming counternarrative blends memoir — a retelling of his own family and tribe’s experiences — and in-depth, detailed reporting on 125 years of native history.”
—Washington Post, “The 10 Books to Read in 2019 Based on What You Loved in 2018”
“Treuer … is a wonderful novelist, and if anybody can tell this story in the way it needs to be told and retold, until the end of time, he can.”
—Lit Hub
“Treuer … has distinguished himself as an accomplished writer of both fiction (Prudence) and nonfiction (Rez Life). … Treuer chronicles the long histories of Native North America, showing the transformation and endurance of many nations. All American history collections will benefit from this important work by an important native scholar.”
—Library Journal, STARRED review
“[The] acclaimed author . . . offers his own very personal ‘counternarrative’ to the depressing story of defeated, hopeless Native Americans . . . Native participation in World Wars I and II, the termination policy and subsequent Relocation Act, the migration to cities, the rise and fall of the American Indian Movement, the growth of tribal capitalism engendered by tribal sovereignty—each of these phenomena is embellished not only by Treuer’s extensive documentation but also by anecdotes populated by members of his own family and longtime friends from Leech Lake. His scholarly reportage of these 125 years of Native history thus comes to vivid life for every reader.”
—Booklist, STARRED review
“A politically charged, highly readable history . . . A welcome modern rejoinder to classics such as God Is Red and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”
—Kirkus
“In clear and vivid prose, David Treuer positions unforgettable portraits of contemporary Indian people within a compelling narrative of the experiences of indigenous peoples in the big sweep of time. His book offers a powerful challenge to the persistent and pernicious idea of the ‘vanishing Indian,’ replacing it with a far more accurate story of Indian people’s repossession and restoration of sovereignty and dignity.”
—Patricia Limerick, author of The Legacy of Conquest and co-founder, Center of the American West
“Treuer provides a sweeping account of how the trope of the vanishing Indian has distorted our current understanding of Native peoples. Instead of seeing Wounded Knee as the final chapter, he recovers the importance of World War II, urban migration, casinos, and the computer age in reshaping the modern Native American experience. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee is written with conviction and illuminates the past in a deeply compelling way.”
—Nancy Isenberg, author of White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
“An ambitious, gripping, and elegantly written synthesis that is much more than the sum of its excellent parts—which include a rich array of Native lives, Treuer’s own family and tribe among them--The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee brings a recognition of indigenous vitality and futurity to a century of modern Indian history.”
—Philip J. Deloria, Professor of History, Harvard University
“[Treuer's] upbringing on an Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota makes him adept at delving behind stereotypes of Indian life.”
—The New Yorker
PRUDENCE
“A wondrous and mesmerizing narrative—intricate, seductive, and wholly gratifying.”
—TONI MORRISON
“At once both blunt and hushed in tone, [Prudence] wields a sledgehammer while walking
on tiptoes . . . By taking us one step backward for every two steps forward, Treuer doesn't just unravel the plot we might expect; he prompts us to interrogate the assumptions—racial, sexual and otherwise—that build up those expectations in the first place.”
—NPR
“It is a novel of despair and longing. Love is everywhere, and yet ungraspable by all… Treuer’s storytelling strengths show in his cast of differentiated third person narrators. Each voice sounds unique, yet none are wildly stylistic or exaggerated…Prudence is a slow burn that finishes with real fireworks. If for no other reason, Treuer’s bombshell of a narrative voice should pull you into the final page.”
—THE CORRESPONDER
“[A] sad, complex novel…Treuer peers into these damaged lives in an unblinking exploration of class, race, gender and sexual orientation ever relevant to today.”
—CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
“[A] lyrical and suspenseful novel.”
—SEATTLE TIMES
“Elegantly bitter…lyrical novel…Treuer is particularly skilled at showing how a substantial life in one area of a life can manifest as distortion in another… Prudence hurts, and that hurt lingers. Very few novels that this much of a risk.”
—NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
“This book is so good that when you get to the end, you’ll want to reread the beginning to see how the author set his magic in motion…This gorgeously restrained novel has much to say about race, class, gender, sexuality, love and war through the stories of women and men whose fates become urgently important to us.”
—MORE MAGAZINE
“Tender and devastating… It’s Treuer’s attention to how race and privilege distort even the most intimate relationships that makes Prudence feel so immediate, so necessary, so contemporary… [A] master class on suspense, shifting perspective and conflicting desire.”
—Anthony Marra for THE WASHINGTON POST
“David Treuer is a literary shape-shifter… True to form his latest book, Prudence, is unlike all its predecessors: a tightly plotted hybrid fiction that combines elements of a mystery, a literary romance and a Greek tragedy.”
—CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“Treuer writes beautifully about the dark corners of human nature, and the brief reprieves that come in even the most unhappy lives.”
—ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“Seductive…Treuer’s writing is supple, his story intricate. That it’s set against the backdrop of one of the most tumultuous periods in history makes it all the more haunting and powerful.”
—OUT MAGAZINE
“Powerful… [A] mesmerizing, beautifully told novel.”
—BOOKPAGE
“A heartbreaking tale of love, loss and desire…Treuer does a masterful job exploring the multiple stories that culminate in the death of ayoung woman in small-town Minnesota.. One of the most honest, moving novels about America in quite a while.”
—LOS ANGELES TIMES
"Beautifully captures a place and an era. . . . Treuer imbues mundane moments with reverence... And he masterfully weaves into the narrative minor characters who have major resonance."
—SEATTLE TIMES
"[A] master craftsman of evocative scenes...Prudence is evidence that Treuer's literary powers continue to grow. He knows people and goes to places foreign to most American writers, and his stories deeply honor ‘the unremembered,’ to whom he dedicates this book."
—MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
"In succinct, finely tuned prose, Treuer...reveal[s]... [an] intimacy [that] in this time and place ... is truly a love that dare not speak its name. Treuer depicts its growth...realistically and tenderly."
—MILKWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
"Lustrous"
—MINNPOST
"So intricately plotted, so filled with strong characters, it should win major awards."
—ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
"An intricate ensemble piece, exploring themes of loss, desire, race, war, and the secrets we keep, through the point of view of five beautifully realized characters...In clear, uncluttered prose, Treuer guides us through 10 years [and] multiple voices...gorgeous."
—PORTLAND OREGONIAN
"Magnetizing and richly original...[with] extraordinarily affecting characters ... Treuer's trenchant and compassionate novel glimmers with nature's potent beauty, fresh historical detail, and scrupulous insight."
—BOOKLIST (starred review)
“The relationships in this novel are deep and complex…. The language is etched with poetry, the emotions deeply felt. Mr. Treuer, aptly named, is after truth.”
—PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
“Compelling… This intricate, melancholy narrative is at once a story of race, sex, class, love and war…A sorrowful, evocative tale… Set against a familiar backdrop of war, this labyrinthine tale is simultaneously a shocking, page-turning mystery and a tumultuous, emotional love story. Prudence is filled with uniquely realistic personalities whose intersecting destinies are both achingly familiar and hauntingly complex.”
—SHEPHERD EXPRESS