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The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative (The CBC Massey Lectures) by [Thomas King]

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Thomas King

The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative (The CBC Massey Lectures) Kindle Edition

by Thomas King (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Winner of the 2003 Trillium Book Award

"Stories are wondrous things," award-winning author and scholar Thomas King declares in his 2003 CBC Massey Lectures. "And they are dangerous."

Beginning with a traditional Native oral story, King weaves his way through literature and history, religion and politics, popular culture and social protest, gracefully elucidating North America's relationship with its Native peoples.

Native culture has deep ties to storytelling, and yet no other North American culture has been the subject of more erroneous stories. The Indian of fact, as King says, bears little resemblance to the literary Indian, the dying Indian, the construct so powerfully and often destructively projected by White North America. With keen perception and wit, King illustrates that stories are the key to, and only hope for, human understanding. He compels us to listen well.

Print length

173 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

House of Anansi Press
Publication date

Nov. 1 2003
File size

1134 KB
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Enabled
Word Wise

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Product description

About the Author

Thomas King has written several highly acclaimed children’s books. A Coyote Solstice Tale, illustrated by Gary Clement, won the American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book and A Coyote Columbus Story, illustrated by William Kent Monkman, was a Governor General’s Award finalist.

King, who is of Cherokee and Greek descent, was a Professor of English at the University of Guelph for many years, where he taught Native Literature and Creative Writing. He recently won the Governor General’s Award for his adult novel, The Back of the Turtle, and he has been nominated for the Commonwealth Writers Prize.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

"Stories are wondrous things. And they are dangerous." In The Truth About Stories, Native novelist and scholar Thomas King explores how stories shape who we are and how we understand and interact with other people. From creation stories to personal experiences, historical anecdotes to social injustices, racist propaganda to works of contemporary Native literature, King probes Native culture's deep ties to storytelling. With wry humor, King deftly weaves events from his own life as a child in California, an academic in Canada, and a Native North American with a wide-ranging discussion of stories told by and about Indians. So many stories have been told about Indians, King comments, that "there is no reason for the Indian to be real. The Indian simply has to exist in our imaginations." That imaginative Indian that North Americans hold dear has been challenged by Native writers - N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louis Owens, Robert Alexie, and others - who provide alternative narratives of the Native experience that question, create a present, and imagine a future. King reminds the reader, Native and non-Native, that storytelling carries with it social and moral responsibilties. "Don't say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You've heard it now." --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Publisher

In his 2003 Massey lectures, award-winning author and scholar Thomas King looks at the breadth and depth of Native experience and imagination. Beginning with Native oral stories, King weaves his way through literature and history, religion and politics, popular culture and social protest, in an effort to make sense of North America's relationship with its Aborigional peoples. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

Beginning with a traditional Native oral story, King weaves his way through literature and history, religion and politics, popular culture and social protest, gracefully elucidating North America's relationship with its Native peoples.

Native culture has deep ties to storytelling, and yet no other North American culture has been the subject of more erroneous stories. The Indian of fact, as King says, bears little resemblance to the literary Indian, the dying Indian, the construct so powerfully and often destructively projeccted by White North America. With keen perception and wit, King illustrates that stories are the key to, and only hope for, human understanding. He compels us to listen well.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Booklist

Trust a novelist and English professor to get to the heart of how stories and storytelling shape our perceptions. Oral stories, King asserts, are public, requiring interaction with an audience. Gathering oral stories into book form compromises the narratives; once set on the page, a story loses its context and voice. And written stories are usually private; no matter how many people read a particular book, each person reads that story as an individual. While King primarily considers narratives by and about Indians, his unusual treatise also includes coverage of a lengthy stay in New Zealand, identity politics, Native American history, and the experience of being the only middle-aged member of an amateur basketball team. Ultimately, King exhorts listeners to accept the responsibility of stories, writing, "Take it. It's yours. Do with it what you will. But don't say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You've heard it now." This is a wonderful study of the power of words. Rebecca Maksel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

...contemporary, necessary, urgent. And very, very funny. His is humour at its best, deadly serious, the ultimate defence against overwhelming odds. -- The Edmonton Journal

If you like Thomas King already, and you should, this is essential reading -- Anna Bowness, Broken Pencil

King is a master storyteller and master writer...I can only say your life will be different if you read these [stories]. -- Ellen Bielawski, The Edmonton Journal

King's ...Massey Lectures illustrate how native culture's deep ties to storytelling have much to teach others about human understanding -- Winnipeg Free Press

[King's speculations and observations] appear in a witty, engaging, thought-provoking, and discomfiting form. Required reading for all. -- Bill Robertson, Saskatoon Star Phoenix --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

Illuminates the relationship between storytelling and the Native North American experience. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00IOW9ZAC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ House of Anansi Press (Nov. 1 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1134 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 173 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #97,135 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #5 in Native American Literature (Kindle Store)
- #48 in Native American Studies (Kindle Store)
- #162 in Native American Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.7 401 ratings

About the author

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Thomas King

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Thomas King is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, scriptwriter, and photographer. His many books include the novels Medicine River; Green Grass, Running Water; Truth and Bright Water; two short story collections, One Good Story, That One (Minnesota, 2013) and A Short History of Indians in Canada (Minnesota, 2013); nonfiction, The Truth About Stories (Minnesota, 2005); and the children's books A Coyote Columbus Story, Coyote Sings to the Moon, Coyote's New Suit, and A Coyote Solstice Tale. King edited the literary anthology All My Relations and wrote and starred in the popular CBC radio series, The Dead Dog Café. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award (2003), and was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2004. He has taught Native literature and history and creative writing at the University of Lethbridge, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Guelph and is now retired and lives in Guelph, Ontario.

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

401 global ratings

5 star		78%
4 star		16%
3 star		3%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Mickayla Matvieshen

Eloquent and heart stopping

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 30, 2022

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The intense and heartwarming nature of Thomas King is unmatched. Along the entire journey of reading I felt myself pulled along a River on knowledge awaiting a revelation, and King didn’t disappoint.
A wonderful and necessary read in postcolonial discourse.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 31, 2022

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VERY Little do we know about the indigenous groups around the world.
Great book to read, highly recommend! Gives you a whole new perspective on Natives in North America.
Listen to the CBC Massey Lectures after reading to hear the stories in the writers own voice, to compare what you thought on your own and what you think after hearing the stories from him.

Helpful

Wibbleguy

Comparison of 'real' Native Indians versus 'fictional' Native Indians found in literature & movies.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 3, 2021

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An intriguing book, comparing how we imagine the Native Indians of North America and Canada, based on romantic historic and contemporary TV and movies, media, and literature, versus the reality. Thomas King is an erudite and entertaining writer. Not too preachy, but laying out the facts in ways that keep you interested and wanting to know more. I've read one of his novels, 'Indians on Vacation', which is both funny and soul searching, about a trip he and his wife took to Prague.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

SSH

Stories can be wonderful or dangerous

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 21, 2020

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I hadn't read any of Thomas King's books before and did this as part of a school book club. I found it to be very interesting and accessible. I learned about some things that gave me a very strong emotional response. Some of his ideas felt very powerful to me like stories can be wonderful or dangerous, once they're told they can't be taken back, and now that you've heard it it's up to you what to do with it. It made me think a lot and rethink what I know. I'm recommending this book to family and friends. I hope you enjoy it too.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 18, 2022

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Very well written, ideas (stories) shine through with a good enlightenment. In my opinion his second best book.

Helpful

Gwendolyn

and it was really good! King writes in a very personable way

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

Bought it for a class on Indigenous thought and knowledge, and it was really good! King writes in a very personable way, the stories he tells are both personal and cultural, based on a series of lectures he gave. This is definitely an eye-opener. It is definitely something that doesn't offer you a definitive answer, but leaves you thinking with questions moving forward. I believe it arrived fairly quickly, as I had it in time for my class. I think it arrived before the other book for the same class. In perfect condition. Thank you.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Robert

Essential reading.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

Because of recent events regarding racism and policing, I have committed myself to antiracism. If, like me, you’re looking for a way in to learning about indigenous issues on Turtle Island, storyteller and scholar Thomas King is a good place to start.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

This was an eye opening book to the complex worldview of aboriginal people in Canada. Canadians are known for being relatively meek, but there is a dark side to Canadian history in residential schools and our systemic treatment of our First Nations as a "problem" to be solved. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand their own biases more, both as Non-First Nations and First Nations people.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

linda brewins

Worth reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 6, 2018

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Promptly received and a book worth reading.

Maria Duschek

Great

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on June 25, 2017

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I like this book very much, because Thomas King is a great author and knows how to write good stories. He successfully describes how stories influence us in our life. I also love the way he tells creation stories.

Darrel Drumm

Enjoyable look at the importance of stories

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

The author concentrated on the importance of stories, both oral and written, in Native culture. I think about it and the importance of the stories I tell my grandsons and realize that those stories get passed down, like the story my grandmother told me about feeding the Dalton Brothers when she was at the dugout close to Ames, Indian Territory (Oklahoma) all by herself and not even a teenager. That story will be passed down by my descendants.

2 people found this helpful

Preston Chipps

The best story I have ever read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 21, 2019

Verified Purchase

Stories are powerful and dangerous. Well crafted narrative , and you cannot say that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story.

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Follow the Author

The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative (The CBC Massey Lectures) Kindle Edition

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About the Author

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From the Publisher

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Book Description

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About the author

Thomas King

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