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139th out of 290 books
—
99 voters
Confessions of an Igloo Dweller: Memories of the Old Arctic
James Houston lived among Inuit in the Canadian Arctic between 1948 and 1962. He slept in their igloos, ate raw fish and seal meat, wore skin clothing, traveled by dog team, hunted walrus, learned how to build a snowhouse, and raised a family. While doing so, he helped change the Arctic. Impressed by the natural artistic skills of the people, he encouraged the development...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
April 1st 1996
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
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When I was a teen my Aunt Edith in Toronto got me started on collecting Inuit stone carvings and when she passed away I inherited her collection. Now I know who we can thank for making that possible: James A. Houston. Houston lived in the Canadian Arctic in the fifties and sixties and was instrumental in collecting these art pieces and arranging for the Inuit to be able to trade them for goods they needed.
Houston is relentlessly upbeat--even when he narrowly misses freezing to death he almost m...more
Houston is relentlessly upbeat--even when he narrowly misses freezing to death he almost m...more
I picked up this book because I was surprised to learn that my favorite Santa Cruz author, James Houston, had been a visual artist in the Arctic for many years. The writing style seemed uncharacteristically unevenly paced and slowly the contradictory autobiographical details accumulated to the point to where I realized that this was not written by my beloved author James L. Houston, but a Canadian artist and author, James A. Houston. An overzealous librarian had inserted the erroneous middle ini...more
A really remarkable trip into the Arctic in the 1940s and 50s. A sharp indicator of what has changed for the good -- the power of positive, constructive, collaborative relationships based on respect -- and for the worse. Episodic, jumpy but so visual, visceral and hilarious. Indeed a good read.
A remarkable book by a remarkable man. Funny, poignant, hugely informative. His achievements are legendary.
Apr 12, 2013
Beth Young
marked it as to-read
Mar 18, 2013
Igraine
marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall
Feb 13, 2013
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James Archibald Houston was a Canadian artist, designer, children's author and film-maker who played an important role in the recognition of Inuit art and introduced printmaking to the Inuit.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ar...
More about James Archibald Houston...
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ar...
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Feb 13, 2013 04:27am
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