the novel was my refuge, my magic vehicle back to the Southwest land of sandstone mesas, blue sky, and sun. As I described the sandstone spring, the spiders, water bugs, swallows, and rattlesnakes, I remade the place in words; I was no longer on a dark rainy island thousands of miles away. I was home, from time immemorial, as the old ones liked to say to us children long ago.
Silko's introduction is not to be missed. It is a great testament to her growth as a writer, her important early writing friendships, and the process and experience of living in Alaska while writing about the American Southwest.
