Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping with His Daughter

by Barry Lopez

Prankster, warrior, seducer, fool -- Old Man Coyote is the most enduring legend in Native American culture. Crafty and cagey -- often the victim of his own magical intrigues and lusty appetites -- he created the earth and man, scrambled the stars and first brought fire . . . and death. Barry Lopez -- National Book Award-winning author of Arctic Dreams and recipient of the John Burroughs Medal for his bestselling masterwork Of Wolves and Men -- has collected sixty-eight tales from forty-two tribes, and brings to life a timeless myth that abounds with sly wit, erotic adventure, and rueful wisdom.

Genres: Mythology, Short Stories, Native American, Folklore, Fiction, Indigenous, Nature

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Barry Holstun Lopez is an American author, essayist, and fiction writer whose work is known for its environmental and social concerns.

Lopez has been described as "the nation's premier nature writer" by the San Francisco Chronicle. In his non-fiction, he frequently examines the relationship between human culture and physical landscape, while in his fiction he addresses issues of intimacy, ethics and identity.

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lopez had such a beautiful way in his own writing, so I think this is very honest and humble of him to find an “authentic” voice instead of his own here. The stories speak for themselves. They are very entertaining but you will probably not want to read more than a few at a time.

The character “coyote” appears in many Native American tribal tales and is often remarkably consistent, at least as far as wildly different assessments of his traits can be consistent. For instance, he can be the original source of death, the savior of man, he brings fire, he’s crafty and an idiot. A trickster, a hero, naughty and an anarchist all in one. In the contents section the tales are identified with the tribe they came from. Lopez talked with many people and read up on (and lists sources). The tales feel authentic.

[Toviel · Rating 3 out of 5]

ACTUAL RATING: 3.5

GIVING BIRTH TO THUNDER is focuses on Native American tales of Coyote. They range from respectable to raunchy, definitively establishing Coyote’s place as a complex trickster-hero figure. However, it’s not entirely clear whether or not the author simply replaced tricksters from other tribal tales with Coyote himself. The book also pushes a “the single Native American culture” bias, but that probably has more to do with the dated academic standards of the 1970s than outright ignorance, as the author clearly respects the peoples of the stories he adapted.

The Coyote tales themselves are surprisingly lifeless, presumably due to their roots in oral tradition—every character states the actions they’re about to undertake, everything is described as simply as possible, etc. Normally an author would deserve credit for presenting so many conflicting stories with such an even tone, but it works against the book’s favor here. The term “bare bones” has never been more apt, although I could see the material working much better as an audiobook.

From a methodological standpoint, the author claims to have used multiple sources to transcript academic or oral stories into a literature-friendly whole. While there is a bibliography, Lopez doesn’t cite his sources for each specific story, so it’s difficult to determine exactly how much was changed from the original folklore in the process. In fact, there appears to be no consultations with actual Native Americans in the text at all. However, since the introduction examines the various problems of similar collections, such as problematic alterations for Western audiences, it’s not likely that any oversights were made on purpose.

It’s not a bad collection overall, and I have no doubts that it was fair for its day. Recommended for anyone genuinely interested in the material and willing to overlook some of its dated conventions.

[Dave-O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I await the day that Coyote returns to Earth... we need him again!

My interpretation of a Nez Perce Coyote legend can be found here: http://grandpapier.org/COYOTE?id_docu...

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn’t really a Barry Lopez book, as he didn’t write a single story in it. Not a complaint, just a fact. It is an interesting collection of Native American Coyote stories from across the Americas which he did a decent job of interpreting/compiling. Lopez is an amazing writer, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this as an example of his work.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book of parables. Sometimes randy, violent, sad, perverse - but mainly funny.

Grandfather Coyote is a trickster for sure; creator, shapeshifter, lover, warrior, horndog, thief. He gets as good as he gives. He might steal your meat and hump your woman, but the way he goes about makes for high comedy.

This book reminds me of the Aesop's Fables I used to read as a kid; morally rich and entertaining.

"Coyote went down to the council with Otter's coat on. When the other animals saw him they thought it was Otter and agreed Otter had a very fine coat. They were all anxious to meet him, but Otter was very bashful. He kept his arm up over his face. Finally Bear pulled his arm away and they saw it was only Coyote. Bear tried to grab him, but Coyote was too quick. He got away."

At times Coyote might seem daft with crooked morals and suspicious intent but the way he uses that subterfuge to expose evildoers is quite virtuous and fulfilling.

“Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion.” ~ Barry López

[Leonca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fact- my friend saw the cover and assumed this was a horror book. To her credit, this collection does not shy away from the theme of sexual assault you will find in some Coyote stories.

Overall one of the best collections I’ve come across. Every story that was already familiar was told with a flavor just different enough to make it fresh. My favorite are the ones that really lean into absurd humor to teach their lesson, such as the shortened version of the Talking Laxative Bulb. I would also recommend Coyote Stories

[Paul Groos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suprisingly accessible and occasionally funny retelling of this sometimes quite hermetic genre of tales. The author must have enjoyed retelling stories where Coyote has conversations with his own excrement or with his penis and then combining them with more profound tales where Coyote creates the world, steals fire from evil spirits or provides the world with water.
I liked most stories in this collection, which rarely happens with collections of folktales. Coyote is a character you like and hate (and enjoy hating), who is clever, resourceful, depraved, kind, selfish, raunchy, helpful - a typical trickster. This collection of tales provides some insight in this multicoloured character.

[Danice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A valuable collection of Coyote stories from 42 North American Indian tribes. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the title. When I saw it on the shelf at a thrift store I initially assumed from the spine that the paperback was some sort of romance novel. I am so very grateful that my curiosity brought me back to the shelf it was on. It is a treasure!

[Kathy Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a group of Coyote stories from Native American communities all over the country. There were a number that I had never come across before and 4 that I adored. The trickster coyote often has tricks played on him, lots of creation tales also included here as well as what our society would now call adult material.

[Ruth Martinez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like weird raunchy tales, or really coyote stories in general. Not sure why I picked up this book, excpet that it was by Barry Lopez. But its definitely not his best. It's barely like his writing at all. River Notes remains my favorite of his.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Native American tales and folklore. This book is all about the stories of coyote. Some of them he's wise, a trickster, imitator, ornery, or loveable. I love the beginning and the ending and I can see some of these stories being a children's favorite. I enjoyed it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great as usual, but set it aside to focus on other books. I wish Goodreads had a "Set Aside" shelf for books we stopped reading and plan to return to some day.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting compilation of stories from various Native American groups about the important figure of Coyote. The figure of Coyote has many facets as the book teaches us. The author exemplifies this by his use of the chapters and their design. Each chapter shows a different side of Coyote and so it is as if each chapter has its own goal to explain a specific character trait. Once that chapter reaches this goal (usually at the end of the story) the chapter ends, even if it was only one page long. There is no unneeded continuation or explanation from the author, the story itself fully teaches the idea. This control of chapters also helps to further illustrate the diverse origin of the author’s information. Seeing as how the stories were not gathered from one group of people alone. The author being an anthropologist gathered his information from various tribes of Native Americans. This research for the book allows for a broader view of the character Coyote and it allows for more information so a better conclusion can be drawn. With such a book as this that uses a figure that is so common in all of Native American folklore from all over the continent a diversified information base is more easily trusted. Though by far the best aspect of the book is way it is written and this is for a few reasons. First of all, the stories are told in a simple way. There is no excruciatingly complex imagery or details, just a concise telling of what is happening. The word choices are also simple in a way; using everyday language that everyone can understand. Over all, the book comes off as something that would not be odd to be listened to instead of read aloud. This is probably due in part to the fact that the stories were passed down orally for a very long time. Still, the author could have changed the style for a more literary feel, but that would have compromised the originality of the work. The conversational tone of the work allows for the stories to be told as they were for the longest time. This is what makes the writing so great, the author sticks to the origins of the stories. He does this by using more than the tone. The stories are not censored or edited in anyway because of what some may call “inappropriate” material. Things that our society may frown on the open discussion of in public media or in some situations life, these things are not hidden. Topics like cannibalism, sexual actions, or bodily functions are told exactly like the story originally detailed. Of course, since the stories were translated things were lost as they often are between two languages. Despite this legitimate excuse the author keeps the stories as original as he can and even uses the original language for a few references. This book has much to teach people, even someone like me who knew nothing about the folklore. Thanks to the characteristics mentioned above everything was easy to learn.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of anthropologists' versions, not direct transcriptions of oral tales, so a bit clunky and dusty, in spite of Lopez's stated attempts to improve the style. I suspect (I'll never know) that the tales are/were quite different in the telling. But coyote as culture-hero, clown, trickster and everyman--that is, as the closest thing to a representative of humans in the mythic world--comes through. And it struck me that there is probably even a bizarre and tortured through-line to Wile E. Coyote's hapless battles with the Roadrunner. (Weird as that may be, I'm not the only one to read classic cartoons as pop culture folk tales: cf. Steven Millhauser's great autobiographical satire Edwin Mullhouse.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I read in college after reading a book about synchronicity, as my library had them. It takes place in America before the invasion, and follows Coyote, the trickster, or jester, on random adventures through 68 different tales. He has sex in some of them, via rape, as the title may allude to. However, by trickster, he’s given some kinds of noble powers by being associated with nature at such a high level. These are early stories with animals similar to Aesop’s fables or Looney Toons cartoons of the modern day, although Wile E. Coyote isn’t an accurate representation of how Coyote appears in here.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of stories about the ubiquitous American Indian trickster figure. Lopez avoids the temptation of many earlier anthologists of trying to fit them into standard European templates, making Coyote strictly a hero or a devil analogue or turning the tales into "just so" stories. This means some come off as pointless, obscure, silly, scatological, or completely alien to the non-Indian reader - and let's face it, sometimes they are - but this, as they say, is a bug not a feature when it comes to portraying one of the most complex and fascinating figures in world mythology.

[Jeevas Crow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of traditional stories from multiple tribes all centering on Coyote. The tales span from creation to explaining how certain landmarks were formed. This was the first book I ever read by Barry Lopez, and was delighted when I borrowed a book that seemingly had no relation to find it was by the same author. Small world. If you're interested in any of the peoples of North America or even just the landscape itself, he's an author worth looking into further.

[Melanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather bare bones retellings. They don't seem to be in the teller's original words, yet they aren't artificially and overly embellished in the process of retelling them.

I like the variety shown here - MANY different tribes, everything from creation tales to morality tales to just plain amusing stories.

[The other John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one's a collection of tales of Coyote, the trickster in various stories from various Native American peoples. All of the tales are short. Some are interesting, some are pretty weak. As the introduction states, these tales were meant to be told by a storyteller, not read in a tome. I suppose I could have tried reading them aloud...

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories about the trickster and imitator Coyote enjoyably shows that sometimes Native Americans liked stories just for the sake of a good yarn; they didn't always have to be full of mysticism leading to a moral.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of coyote tales from North America is one of the best mythology books I've ever read.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the definitive collections of coyote tales. Lopez not only collects great stories and tells them with an engaging voice, he also provides an insightful introduction.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great book from this re-teller of Native tales

[Shruti · Rating 1 out of 5]

only for enthusiasts

[TRISHA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Coyote made me laugh so hard!

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this in the deserts of southwest Utah next to a campfire. It's been in my library ever since

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great folk tales about Coyote, and his retinue.

[Frederick Garber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of Coyote tales. Not your grade school folk tales.

[danni]

the coyote myth is an oral tradition, and i’m glad to find this book is a (cleaned-up) transcript of stories told aloud