Caribou Island: a frontier too far

Though inspired by a long tradition of American rural writing, David Vann’s novel rejects the romance of the wild

You don’t need me to tell you that the frontier looms large in the American imagination - not least because David Vann has already spoken to The White Review about the call of the wild:

“Forge your own paths, build cabins, hammer it out in the wilderness, clear trees – that’s somehow part of the American imagination – that’s who we are and Alaska is our final frontier. I think the whole nation imagines it.”

“I am inspired by the American tradition of rural writing, authors such as William Faulkner, Annie Proulx and Toni Morrison. A whole bunch of my favourite authors wrote about these rural landscapes in America. I actually think that’s the best kind of American writing. The longer tradition of American writing is actually rural and I think we forget that. I think for people to think that it’s the urban novel set in New York is a really skewed view.”

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