THE DREAM DANCER

by Kenneth Crowe

THE DREAM A Native American hero’s journey in which the monster is a U.S. Congressman and the netherworld is a Pennsylvania prison.The story opens in Paris in the dwindling days of the summer of 1956. Coop Rever, a Native American expatriate who is the protagonist of THE DREAM DANCER, is getting ready to travel to Algeria to gather material for his third book on the French Foreign Legion. Coop is a war correspondent and author, educated at the Sorbonne under the World War II GI Bill. Coop dreams that he has been chosen to be a messenger of God. Although skeptical and unwilling at the outset, Coop undertakes the role when the evidence that he is the chosen one becomes so overwhelming he cannot deny it.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2009

Reviews

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not one to really take the time to write a review but after finishing this book I feel there are a few words that have to be said. It's hard to find many books regarding really any Native American topic, especially when just browsing for free ebooks, but I downloaded this book on a whim without really knowing what to expect.
I won't go into much detail but this book tells the story of Coop Rever, a celebrated war vet living a good life in France as a journalist, who cannot deny the calling of Koona Manitou to come back to the Okwe reservation in America and fulfill his destiny to save his people. The setting starts out in the 50's and Crowe portrays the horrific racism endured by the Native Americans during this time period, being branded as "red niggers" and treated as less than second class citizens who aren't even believed that they should possess their own land by the white politicians and corrupt police force/correction officers.
Every time I thought I knew where the direction of the story was going, Crowe threw me for another loop and spun Coop's life for yet another painful turn. Not only does the reader gain more knowledge of the much under-discussed plight of Native American life, especially in context of maintaining their culture while being corralled into reservations in order to be stuffed away from the white population, but it also sheds a terrible light on the inhumanity of prison life during that time. Without spoiling any of this thought-provoking tale, let's just say that after reading the story of Coop (an unlikely but surprisingly sympathetic character), one gains a new perspective on life, the strength of the human spirit, and just how much suffering one can endure (and have denied) and still manage to survive.
One of the deepest and most disturbing books that I've read in a while. I will definitely be reading more by Kenneth Crowe.

[Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Man's Religion is Another Man's Superstition
I thought that Kenneth C. Crowe's story was entertaining. My Paternal grandmother was born on the reservation in Oklahoma; her father was a Native American (Indian). I did not know much about that culture as I grew up, in fact, I only recently learned of my ancestry while playing with my family tree on Ancestry.com. This book features a lot of stereotypical Post-WWI & II attitudes and behavior viewed from the perspective of a Full-blood Native American. The contrasts in belief systems (and greed) around the world create the wars, large and small, human beings suffer and die . . . and then what? The ending if this fictional history tells us one possibility ! ! !

[torque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought I had figured this book out, but after about halfway through the book, unexpected darker twists kept happening. Another plus for certain observations and descriptions now and then which was not necessarily for the story, but made the reading experience much better.