The Man Who Swam with Beavers

by Nancy Lord

"These fresh, startling, wonderful stories deserve a wide readership. I gobbled them up."—Maxine Kumin "Nancy Lord writes subtly but eloquently about the natural splendors of the state. . . . Survival speaks volumes about the real Alaska, a place where anything goes—but only if you’re willing to pay the price." — The New York Times Book Review "Alaska—wild, grand, still unsubjugated— lives in this book." — The Boston Review on Survival Inspired by the Native Alaskan myths and legends of her adopted state, Nancy Lord explores the persistent human need for contact with nature in the quietly ironic fables set that make up The Man Who Swam with Beavers . "It is not my intent to appropriate, retell, or improve on the traditional source stories, but to use them as starting points to explore the dilemmas and delights of modern American life." The title refers to a Dena’ina traditional story about a man who lived with beavers, with the moral that all creatures have "their own lives, as complete and legitimate as any others." These wise, charming stories examine individual and collective responsibilities to one another and to the natural world. Nancy Lord was born in New Hampshire and has lived in Homer, Alaska, since 1973, where she writes, teaches creative writing for the University of Alaska, and fishes commercially for salmon. Her stories and essays have appeared in Ploughshares, Antioch Review, Sierra, North American Review, and Manoa. Her books include Green Dreams from the Far Coast, Life on an Alaskan Shore, and Survival.

Genres: Short Stories

220 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing and intriguing stories. My favorites were ‘The Census Taker’ and ‘Remaking the World’.

3.5 out of 5.

[Jackie]

Not fair to review a book I only read half of, I suppose, but I kept reading those short stories thinking "One of these is going to be so good that I will be able to overlook the ones so far." It did not happen, so I gave it up...wondering about those rave reviews I read.....were they really for this book?... (zero stars from me...sorry).

[Darlene Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The IDEA of this book was better than the actual pulling-off. The writing was good, but the resolutions of the stories were disappointing--often too pat, or just lacking. Perhaps Lord was hobbled a little by her project (building stories from Native American and other folklore).

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a very strange book of short stories. I did like the first story but everything went down hill from there.