Old Fish Hawk

by Mitch Jayne

He's the last of a vanishing breed, an Osage Indian, and he's ready to returnto the land of his ancestors.

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this as a book (did not listened to the tape). for some reason they don't have it listed as a book, which seems strange.
It was great: an old native Indian drunk-turned-hero, a wild beast roving in the woods, buried treasure... (I guess all it lacked was a romance.)
What I most loved about it was the way the author developed the characters of the animals. Well done.

[Daniel Liebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

s this one of the most underrated American novels of all time? I can't find another that comes close. Jayne surpassed himself in this novel. It is his truly great work and in it he put everything he loved and helps us to love it too: a log farmhouse on a rainy day, the feel of wet moccasins on boggy ground, the terrible high human cry of pain of a hurt bear and above all Autumn in the Ozarks which is the sublimely evoked setting for the brilliant and moving climax. Jayne's straightforward and evocative natural details are worthy of the best Japanese Haiku poets. The beauty is on every page of this book and yet it is a genuine page-turner! The structure of the novel is brilliant - a touching character from early on coming back near the end to become part of the final climactic story. At first glance at this book, I expected some phony PC 'Native American' fantasy but the old Osage man, Fish Hawk, is a universal figure perfectly realized.