The Indian Lawyer: A Novel - Softcover

Welch, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393329380 ISBN 13: 9780393329384

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007

Synopsis

“At once a romance, a gripping suspense thriller, and a psychological portrait. . . .The Indian Lawyer is a triumph.”―San Francisco Chronicle

Sylvester Yellow Calf is a former reservation basketball star, a promising young lawyer, and a possible congressional candidate. But when a parolee ensnares him in a blackmail scheme, he'll have to decide just who he is, and what he wants.

About this title

About the Author:

At the time of his death in 2003, James Welch was considered one of the most important authors of the American West. His books include Fool’s Crow and Winter in the Blood.

From Publishers Weekly:

Following his poetic, gripping evocation of Native American culture in Fools no apostrophe sss Crow , set in the 1800s, Welch returns to the contemporary scene with the tale of a man whose ascent from a Montana reservation into upper-middle-class society has all the elements of a classic success story--including a fall from grace. By dint of talent and hard work, Sylvester Yellow Knife has escaped the fate of most of his fellow Blackfeet. A college basketball star and graduate of Stanford Law School, he is at 35 a highly regarded lawyer in a prestigious Helena firm, about to declare his candidacy for Congress, where he hopes to help his people and assuage his guilt over having abandoned their poverty-stricken world. But when the prison parole board of which he is a member denies parole to a wily man desperate to end his incarceration, Sylvester becomes the target of a blackmailing scheme. Welch underscores the ironies in his hero's rise from the reservation by counterpointing the ways in which the convict squandered his considerable opportunities and ran his life downhill. Sylvester's growing doubts about assimilation and his need to identify with his Native American roots are counterpoised to his realization that he may be deprived of the opportunity to make a contribution on a national scale. The thriller elements of the plot are developed with credibility, and while the narrative lacks the hallucinatory power of Fools Crow , it is a convincing story of a man who almost loses his values and his soul.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0393329380
• ISBN 13: 9780393329384
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 350