Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Manny's Corner: Book reviewer/ The Bridge Is Gone
Manny's Corner: Book reviewer/ The Bridge Is Gone: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Review: The Bridge is Gone! A Common Man's Must Read! Image by Smithsonian Institution via Flickr The B...
Friday, April 1, 2011
Review on The Elder
Where Native America meets pop culture
March 31, 2011
Review of The Elder
Author Manny Moreno was kind enough to send me a copy of his book The Elder. An excerpt from the book's introduction tells what it's about:
Manny Moreno Site
Manny Moreno’s book The Elder is about many things--loss, tribute, grief, brokenness, the mending power of ceremony—but above all, his book is a plea for the reintegration of elders into the fabric of our culture. Moreno’s book documents his long (and often thorny) relationship with revered Navajo elder and prayer man Harry Jack, especially his last years when he was changing from a spirited and healthy 500-mile runner to an increasingly incapacitated elder requiring a great deal of vigilance and attention. He is mugged on the streets, suffers strokes, and must be accompanied by someone at all times because, after his strokes, he is unsteady and capable of hurting himself. In spite of Jack’s infirmities and his telegraphic English (his first language was Navajo), he continues to enrich the ceremonial life of the Indian community through the power of his prayer and understanding, through his availability to those in distress, and through his luminous presence evident even to elementary school children who would write him love notes after visiting.
Jack, tough and unrelenting (applying what some California Indians call the “elder hammer”), teaches the author, and many other recovering alcohol and drug addicts (at the Central Valley recovery lodge he helped sustain), the importance of health, commitment to community, and sensitivity to the suffering of others, no matter what their backgrounds. And the author, young and hardheaded when they first meet and seeking refuge from gang-infested Stockton, is not easy to teach. More on The Elder and Manny Moreno:
Review: In Writing A Tribute Writer Shares His Own Destiny...
Interview by Livingston Chronicle
Comment: At 63 pages including photos, The Elder is a slight book. It feels like it's self-published, and at $12.50, it may be overpriced. But I'm glad I read it.
It's relatively rare to see the struggle of urban Natives in fiction. Mysteries such as Tony Hillerman's present middle-class Native professionals. A few movies--e.g., The Exiles, Four Sheets to the Wind, and The Business of Fancydancing--and Sherman Alexie's stories give you a hint of what it's like.
Moreno survives a youth filled with alcohol and petty crime. He works menial jobs for room and board. He lives in a trailer or a friend's rented room. He shuttles between the city, a recovery center, and an occasional sweat lodge or powwow.
It could almost be a sequel to The Exiles. A couple of decades after drinking to excess, running with bad crowds, and being locked up, he's more or less hit bottom. Now he's middle-aged and searching for meaning in his life.
Enter the elder
Moreno has an off-and-on relationship with Harry Jack, a Navajo powwow dancer and prayer leader. At first, Harry treats him with disdain, yelling at him or ignoring him. Moreno has to learn patience and fortitude to endure the harsh treatment.
But when Harry has a stroke, he calls upon Moreno to help him. Moreno becomes his driver, keeper, and ceremonial assistant. He learns more about compassion and helping others. Eventually Moreno rails against those who don't visit elders like Harry or treat them with respect.
Finally, Moreno wonders who will perform the ceremonies when Harry is gone. He finds that others expect him to lead a prayer or pour water for a sweat lodge. He's come full circle, growing from a troubled young man into a respected elder himself.
If you want to know how Indians live on the margins of the white man's world, The Elder is a good start. It presents a slice of Native life we seldom see. Rob's rating: 8.0 of 10.
You can order the book directly from Moreno's website and have him autograph it for you.
For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.
Manny Moreno Site
Jack, tough and unrelenting (applying what some California Indians call the “elder hammer”), teaches the author, and many other recovering alcohol and drug addicts (at the Central Valley recovery lodge he helped sustain), the importance of health, commitment to community, and sensitivity to the suffering of others, no matter what their backgrounds. And the author, young and hardheaded when they first meet and seeking refuge from gang-infested Stockton, is not easy to teach.
Review: In Writing A Tribute Writer Shares His Own Destiny...
Interview by Livingston Chronicle
Comment: At 63 pages including photos, The Elder is a slight book. It feels like it's self-published, and at $12.50, it may be overpriced. But I'm glad I read it.
It's relatively rare to see the struggle of urban Natives in fiction. Mysteries such as Tony Hillerman's present middle-class Native professionals. A few movies--e.g., The Exiles, Four Sheets to the Wind, and The Business of Fancydancing--and Sherman Alexie's stories give you a hint of what it's like.
Moreno survives a youth filled with alcohol and petty crime. He works menial jobs for room and board. He lives in a trailer or a friend's rented room. He shuttles between the city, a recovery center, and an occasional sweat lodge or powwow.
It could almost be a sequel to The Exiles. A couple of decades after drinking to excess, running with bad crowds, and being locked up, he's more or less hit bottom. Now he's middle-aged and searching for meaning in his life.
Enter the elder
Moreno has an off-and-on relationship with Harry Jack, a Navajo powwow dancer and prayer leader. At first, Harry treats him with disdain, yelling at him or ignoring him. Moreno has to learn patience and fortitude to endure the harsh treatment.
But when Harry has a stroke, he calls upon Moreno to help him. Moreno becomes his driver, keeper, and ceremonial assistant. He learns more about compassion and helping others. Eventually Moreno rails against those who don't visit elders like Harry or treat them with respect.
Finally, Moreno wonders who will perform the ceremonies when Harry is gone. He finds that others expect him to lead a prayer or pour water for a sweat lodge. He's come full circle, growing from a troubled young man into a respected elder himself.
If you want to know how Indians live on the margins of the white man's world, The Elder is a good start. It presents a slice of Native life we seldom see. Rob's rating: 8.0 of 10.
You can order the book directly from Moreno's website and have him autograph it for you.
For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.
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Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, August 23, 2010
Review: In Writing A Tribute Writer Shares His Own Destiny...
 Image by Oregon State University Archives via Flickr |
| After Harry Jack's stroke, he asked his "nephew" Manny to pour the water in the sweat lodge |
The Elder:
A Tribute
By Monolin "Manny" Moreno
I was honored to have had the opportunity to read The Elder by Monolin Moreno with Lillian Vallee, a renowned literary professor and translator, providing the Introduction. How many of us show the love we have for another through the creation of a statement of memoriam to that individual (and other elders)?
Indeed, The Elder is so much more than that, for in showing his love and respect for the elders in this book, Manny Moreno has also shown us an important part of his life and the lives and rich culture of his people. I have read many fictional books that are based upon our Native Americans Indian culture and learned much, but none of them have given me the opportunity to love their characters as I did in Manny's book. For it is these individuals who have and are still trying to retain the ceremonial and prayer heritage that was once so much a part of their lives. I am grateful for that experience!
The Elder begins as the funeral is conducted for Harry Jack and Manny comes and says a prayer to Grandfather to receive Harry Jack's spirit. But soon, Manny is enclosed within a blanket. Harry had sponsored Manny and he would be received today into the Black Wolf Gourd Clan and participate as part of that clan as honor is given to Harry Jack. It is as they dance and wept that Harry began to look back as to how and when Manny and Harry had crossed paths.
It had been in the 1980's at a powwow
, when there was a dance contest. All of the young were dressed in full ceremonial garb except Harry came with just one feather. As if ordained, Harry won the contest, dancing as he had always danced so many years before... At that event, Manny stumbled literally into Harry and though he immediately apologized. Harry scolded him. This was to be the relationship that seemed to occur over and over for many years, though Manny continued to treat his elder with the respect due.Manny begins to tell his own story at this point, sharing that his life was essentially one long drunk until one night at an AA meeting he met Chili Willie Burns and Beaver. They encouraged him to go to the Three Rivers Indian Lodge, an alcohol and substance recovery center for Native Americans
. Harry Jack was there...And Manny was for the first time to enter the sweat lodge. While Harry talked about Indian ways, about sobriety, Manny began to feel good and at peace. But then it got hotter and hotter; that first time Manny ran out of the lodge. Harry called him crazy. Beaver came to help him back to his place.
But Manny came back to the Lodge and he stayed...
Both Harry Jack and Manny were stubborn men and they had many "run-ins" over the next decades. However, slowly the love and respect were what held them together until Harry Jack, when he had a stroke, chose Manny as his "nephew" to pour the water for him...
Manny Moreno has his manuscript totally prepared and ready to be published. He is looking for a publisher and I believe The Elder must be placed on the shelves of many. To this end, this reviewer is committing $500 to help with the costs to publish this book. Will YOU help? I am sure Manny will share more about his book with you. Pain of Forgiving is also in manuscript ready for publishing.
The Bridge is Gone was Manny's first book and is available at Amazon or Back40 Publishing (click on article title to go there).
1 comments:
- Chilito Valenzuela said...
- Good reading,brings back memories of Harry Jack,i got scolded by him also,but,sometimes a scolding wakes you up especially when scolded by a man of his status,its actually an Honor.
- October 16, 2010 5:00 PM
Post a Comment
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Interview with Manny
Book Reader's Heaven
Monday, August 23, 2010
Review: In Writing A Tribute Writer Shares His Own Destiny...
The Elder:
A Tribute
By Monolin "Manny" Moreno
I was honored to have had the opportunity to read The Elder by
Monolin Moreno with Lillian Vallee, a renowned literary professor and
translator, providing the Introduction. How many of us show the love we
have for another through the creation of a statement of memoriam to that
individual (and other elders)?
Indeed, The Elder is so much more than that, for in showing his
love and respect for the elders in this book, Manny Moreno has also
shown us an important part of his life and the lives and rich culture of
his people. I have read many fictional books that are based upon
our Native Americans Indian culture and learned much, but none of them
have given me the opportunity to love their characters as I did in
Manny's book. For it is these individuals who have and are still trying
to retain the ceremonial and prayer heritage that was once so much a
part of their lives. I am grateful for that experience!
The Elder begins as the funeral is conducted for Harry Jack and
Manny comes and says a prayer to Grandfather to receive Harry Jack's
spirit. But soon, Manny is enclosed within a blanket. Harry had
sponsored Manny and he would be received today into the Black Wolf Gourd
Clan and participate as part of that clan as honor is given to Harry
Jack. It is as they dance and wept that Manny began to look back as to
how he and Harry Jack had crossed paths.
It had been in the 1980's at a powwow
,when there was a dance contest. All of the young were dressed in full
ceremonial garb except Harry came with just one feather. As if ordained,
Harry won the contest, dancing as he had always danced so many years
before... At that event, Manny stumbled literally into Harry and though
he immediately apologized. Harry scolded him. This was to be the
relationship that seemed to occur over and over for many years, though
Manny continued to treat his elder with the respect due.
Manny begins to tell his own story at this point, sharing that his life
was essentially one long drunk until one night at an AA meeting he met
Chili Willie Burns and Beaver. They encouraged him to go to the Three
Rivers Indian Lodge, an alcohol and substance recovery center for Native Americans
. Harry Jack was there...And Manny was for the first time to enter the sweat lodge. While Harry
talked about Indian ways, about sobriety, Manny began to feel good and
at peace. But then it got hotter and hotter; that first time Manny ran
out of the lodge. Harry called him crazy. Beaver came to help him back
to his place.
But Manny came back to the Lodge and he stayed...
Both Harry Jack and Manny were stubborn men and they had many "run-ins"
over the next decades. However, slowly the love and respect were what
held them together until Harry Jack, when he had a stroke, chose Manny
as his "nephew" to pour the water for him...
Manny
and I are in the same situation now. We are now "the elders" of our
respective families. One of the main issues that you cannot fail to miss
in Manny's book, is the need to consider and reconsider the treatment
of our older family members. As Lillian Vallee states, "his book is a
plea for the reintegration of elders into the fabric of our culture."
Now, Manny is the elder and he is called upon to give the prayers, to
pour the water, to pray over a new-born... He does this while working as
a laborer and living with others as possible...
and I are in the same situation now. We are now "the elders" of our
respective families. One of the main issues that you cannot fail to miss
in Manny's book, is the need to consider and reconsider the treatment
of our older family members. As Lillian Vallee states, "his book is a
plea for the reintegration of elders into the fabric of our culture."
Now, Manny is the elder and he is called upon to give the prayers, to
pour the water, to pray over a new-born... He does this while working as
a laborer and living with others as possible...
I believe The Elder must be placed on the shelves of many. The Pain of Forgiving is also in manuscript ready for publishing.
The Bridge is Gone was Manny's first book and is available at Back40 Publishing.Com
The Bridge is Gone was Manny's first book and is available at Back40 Publishing.Com
Order The Elder at:
MonolinMannyMoreno.Yolasite.Com
You can use Paypal
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