A deeply sympathetic, colorful evocation of life on the American prairies
In Way Down Yonder in the Indian Nationa title inspired by the lyrics of Woody Guthriebest-selling author Michael Wallis creates a brilliant tableau of America's heartland.
Featuring a new introduction by the author, this collection of sixteen essays reflects the finest examples of Wallis's writing and harkens back to a time before fast food and malls replaced family-owned diners along Route 66. From tales of the notorious Oklahoma panhandle, where "the only law was the colt and the carbine," to the fate of Woody Guthrie's mother Nora, who, burdened by depression, set fire to her kids and spent the last years of her life in an asylum, Way Down Yonder in the Indian Nation brings to life some of Oklahoma's most memorable charactersthe famous and infamous, the ordinary and down-home.
"Enclosed within the covers of this book are some of my favorite spoonfuls of Oklahoma," says Wallis. The result is a quintessential American booka crazy quilt of stories and a powerful portrait of Okie identity.