A Son of the Forest and Other Writings

by William Apess

Book Overview

Designed especially for classroom use, this book brings together the best-known works of the nineteenth-century Indian writer William Apess, including the first extended autobiography by a Native American. The text is drawn from On Our Own Ground , which was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Book. Barry O'Connell has written a new introduction for this abbreviated edition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558491074
• ISBN13: 9781558491076
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A Great early Indigenous voice

Four stars seem appropriate for an abridged edition of a work rating five stars for the complete version. For more detail, see my review of "On Our Own Ground" with the same date. The spectacle of Apess delivering his "Eulogy on King Philip" to the descendants of the Puritans who destroyed the Wampanoag leader should cause many Americans to rethink their image of our country's history.

A pioneering Native American writer

"A Son of the Forest and Other Writings," by William Apess, is an important resource in United States history and literature. The book is edited by Barry O'Connell, who also provides an introduction. Apess (1798-1839), of the Pequot Indian people, was a pioneer Native American writer. In addition to his 1831 autobiography, "A Son of the Forest," this volume also contains "The Experiences of Five Christian Indians of the Pequot Tribe" (1832) and his "Eulogy on King Philip" (1836).Apess' writing is dominated by his fervent evangelical Christianity, and also by his articulation of a Native American consciousness. "Son" is at times a very gripping autobiography. In it Apess writes about poverty, child abuse, alcoholism, ethnic identity and religious conversion: all topics that remain very relevant over the centuries. This volume contains, in addition to the primary texts, a useful bibliography and chronology. This book is an excellent choice both for the classroom and for the independent reader.