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Spirit of the Hills
O'Brien evokes the mythic themes of the old and new West in a highly charged novel of murder and revenge set against the beautifully evocative, haunting landscape of the Black Hills of South Dakota.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
37 people want to read
About the author
Dan O'Brien
18 books57 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Dan O'Brien was born Daniel Hosler O'Brien in Findlay Ohio on November 23, 1947. He attended Findlay High School and graduated in 1966. He went to Michigan Technological University to play football and graduated with a BS degree in Math and Business from Findlay College in 1970 where he was the chairman of the first campus Earth Day. He earned an MA in English Literature from the University of South Dakota in 1973 where he studied under Frederick Manfred. He earned an MFA from Bowling Green University (of Ohio) in 1974, worked as a biologist and wrote for a few years before entering the PhD program at Denver University. When he won the prestigious Iowa Short Fiction in 1986 he gave up academics except for occasional short term teaching jobs. O'Brien continued to write and work as an endangered species biologist for the South Dakota Department of Game Fish and Parks and later the Peregrine Fund. In the late 1990s he began to change his small cattle ranch in South Dakota to a buffalo ranch. In 2001 he founded Wild Idea Buffalo Company and Sustainable Harvest Alliance to produce large landscape, grass fed and field harvest buffalo to supply high quality and sustainable buffalo meat to people interested in human health and the health of the American Great Plains. He now raises buffalo and lives on the Cheyenne River Ranch in western South Dakota with his wife Jill. Dan O'Brien is the winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Grants for fiction, A Bush Foundation Award for writing, a Spur Award, two Wrangler Awards from the National cowboy Hall of Fame, and an honorary PhD from the University of South Dakota. His books have been translated into seven foreign languages and his essays, reviews, and short stories have been published in many periodicals including, Redbook, New York Times Magazine, FYI. New York Times Book Review.
Dan O'Brien was born Daniel Hosler O'Brien in Findlay Ohio on November 23, 1947. He attended Findlay High School and graduated in 1966. He went to Michigan Technological University to play football and graduated with a BS degree in Math and Business from Findlay College in 1970 where he was the chairman of the first campus Earth Day. He earned an MA in English Literature from the University of South Dakota in 1973 where he studied under Frederick Manfred. He earned an MFA from Bowling Green University (of Ohio) in 1974, worked as a biologist and wrote for a few years before entering the PhD program at Denver University. When he won the prestigious Iowa Short Fiction in 1986 he gave up academics except for occasional short term teaching jobs. O'Brien continued to write and work as an endangered species biologist for the South Dakota Department of Game Fish and Parks and later the Peregrine Fund. In the late 1990s he began to change his small cattle ranch in South Dakota to a buffalo ranch. In 2001 he founded Wild Idea Buffalo Company and Sustainable Harvest Alliance to produce large landscape, grass fed and field harvest buffalo to supply high quality and sustainable buffalo meat to people interested in human health and the health of the American Great Plains. He now raises buffalo and lives on the Cheyenne River Ranch in western South Dakota with his wife Jill. Dan O'Brien is the winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Grants for fiction, A Bush Foundation Award for writing, a Spur Award, two Wrangler Awards from the National cowboy Hall of Fame, and an honorary PhD from the University of South Dakota. His books have been translated into seven foreign languages and his essays, reviews, and short stories have been published in many periodicals including, Redbook, New York Times Magazine, FYI. New York Times Book Review.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 27, 2020
https://rogueliterarysociety.com/f/sp...
With an uncanny feeling of shame, along with savage wonder, I humbly present this book review that in no way can, or will, do justice to the great writing of Dan O’Brien. I absolutely had no idea that he could write so well. I have ignored him forever, and if it wasn’t for Jim Harrison mentioning him in an essay and writing a blurb for his first of two buffalo-ranching memoirs, Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch, I would never have read any of his work. This is the first piece of fiction by this potential literary icon, and it came on the heels of my completing the reading of four of the most personal and heartfelt memoirs I have ever devoured. The pace of my reading of Dan O’Brien has been furious and it seems I cannot get enough of his writing. Others have already stated how good he is, and I gladly add my voice to what can only be hoped to be a rising crescendo that culminates soon in a lofty recognition of his supreme powers with the written word. The trouble I suppose with anointing him begins with his name. The name Dan O’Brien really doesn’t have the right ring to it, not like a Hemingway or Faulkner. And if Cormac McCarthy had written this book there would be no end to the praises bestowed him. It is that good.
From the very first sentence until the last the action never stops. Even the many characters are fleshed out enough that a great and intimate feeling for them occurs. Three different plot threads happen almost rapid-fire throughout the entire novel. The reader must pay attention to detail as there is always a lot happening. And how O’Brien manages to eventually connect all the dots is engaging, mysterious, and suspenseful to the degree that emotional attachments are made with several of the main characters. There is so much substance in this book that it could have easily been twice as long. My only regret being that it wasn't. O’Brien’s understanding and love for the natural world is also made manifest and rivals some of the great work of his good friend, the now-deceased writer Jim Harrison. Because of this utterly fine example of fiction-writing I plan on continuing on through O’Brien’s entire oeuvre, concentrating particularly on any nonfiction left unread as well as his remaining novels beginning chronologically from this, his first, until his last.
With an uncanny feeling of shame, along with savage wonder, I humbly present this book review that in no way can, or will, do justice to the great writing of Dan O’Brien. I absolutely had no idea that he could write so well. I have ignored him forever, and if it wasn’t for Jim Harrison mentioning him in an essay and writing a blurb for his first of two buffalo-ranching memoirs, Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch, I would never have read any of his work. This is the first piece of fiction by this potential literary icon, and it came on the heels of my completing the reading of four of the most personal and heartfelt memoirs I have ever devoured. The pace of my reading of Dan O’Brien has been furious and it seems I cannot get enough of his writing. Others have already stated how good he is, and I gladly add my voice to what can only be hoped to be a rising crescendo that culminates soon in a lofty recognition of his supreme powers with the written word. The trouble I suppose with anointing him begins with his name. The name Dan O’Brien really doesn’t have the right ring to it, not like a Hemingway or Faulkner. And if Cormac McCarthy had written this book there would be no end to the praises bestowed him. It is that good.
From the very first sentence until the last the action never stops. Even the many characters are fleshed out enough that a great and intimate feeling for them occurs. Three different plot threads happen almost rapid-fire throughout the entire novel. The reader must pay attention to detail as there is always a lot happening. And how O’Brien manages to eventually connect all the dots is engaging, mysterious, and suspenseful to the degree that emotional attachments are made with several of the main characters. There is so much substance in this book that it could have easily been twice as long. My only regret being that it wasn't. O’Brien’s understanding and love for the natural world is also made manifest and rivals some of the great work of his good friend, the now-deceased writer Jim Harrison. Because of this utterly fine example of fiction-writing I plan on continuing on through O’Brien’s entire oeuvre, concentrating particularly on any nonfiction left unread as well as his remaining novels beginning chronologically from this, his first, until his last.
August 27, 2022
I think Spirit of the Hills represents everything Dan O'Brien cared (cares) about, this book written in 1988. We have read almost all of Dan's books, and we'll find the few we have missed. This came as a used book (very used) discarded from the public library in Logan Iowa. I think it has been read many times; and I may send it on to Dan O'Brien and thank him for his writing and developing Wild Idea Buffalo!!
March 13, 2017
Brad (husband) brought this home from the library and thought I might like it because it takes place around the Black Hills, where we have traveled. It's not worth reading. The only reason I finished it was because I liked the character of the old wolf hunter. Like Brad said, at least it wasn't a werewolf. Very unsatisfying read.
January 24, 2010
Very interesting western mystery by an author who won the Iowa Short Fiction Award. It's a little older but now I will have to see if he has some newer stuff. This one threads the lives of several characters into a story weave that makes it hard to put down. One character is chasing down the man who killed his brother. Another is an older man who was a wolf trapper. Another is a Sioux woman who moved from the area to Minnesota and has returned. It all takes place in the Black Hills. Little hints of mystery within each character lead you to believe they have a connection but you have to keep reading to find out what it is. In the meantime something is killing livestock in the area. The wolves that used to be in the area are extinct but some believe it is a wolf. The author makes it feel like a monster.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews