The characters in these stories "are always on the verge of disasters that emanate from the hard living they endure in the city they call 'Red Stick, '" i.e., Baton Rouge, Louisiana.--Jacket

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize: “Uncannily perceptive stories written by an American from the viewpoint of Vietnamese citizens transplanted to Louisiana” (People). A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain is Robert Olen Butler’s Pulitzer Prize–winning collection of lyrical and poignant stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War and its enduring impact on the Vietnamese. Written in a soaring prose, Butler’s haunting and powerful stories blend Vietnamese folklore and contemporary American realities, creating a vibrant panorama that is epic in its scope. This new edition includes two previously uncollected stories—“Missing” and “Salem”—that brilliantly complete the collection’s narrative journey, returning to the jungles of Vietnam to explore the experiences of a former Vietcong soldier and an American MIA. “Deeply affecting . . . A brilliant collection of stories about storytellers whose recited folklore radiates as implicit prayer . . . One of the strongest collections I’ve read in ages.” —Ann Beattie

The Last Red Stick Warrior? is a unique inside look into a culture that has almost disappeared. This is a way of life that is dated back centuries upon centuries, to the time of the ancients-a time when the Beloved Women used the Crystal Skulls in ceremony and healing. After 100 years of vowed silence, the elders are speaking. For the first time ever here is a world you must see and experience, with Ghost Dancer, one who lived it. The Last Red Stick Warrior? will reflect not only to Ghost Dancers culture but is a glimpse into ancient peoples of the Americas: Cahokia, Maya, Aztec, Inca, and even hidden insights into other mound and pyramid building peoples, the mysteries that have not been solved.

First published in 1903 by The Field Columbian Museum, Chicago.

Abstracts : p. 419-475.