Alaskans

Ten celebrated stories of contemporary Alaska, a full-color, no-holds-barred portrayal of life in the Great Land. Tanyo Ravicz, the award-winning author of A Man of His Village, now paints a series of unforgettable portraits of Alaskans in all walks of life. A firefighter confronts his mixed identity as a wildfire rages; a teenager discovers one of the perils of cannery work; friends hunt for happiness at the top of the world; rivals meet over the grave of the man they loved. Spirited, wide-ranging, by turns tender and blunt, written in a lean and vigorous prose, this selection includes Tanyo Ravicz's classic novella "A Fox in May," in which young Jed Hanson, a boy on the cusp of manhood, becomes immersed in the terrors and beauties of the natural world. ''Capture[s] this state in a way few writers seem capable.'' --- David James, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ''Storytelling at its finest ... a savoury feast for the senses.'' --- Anne Ku, Le Bon Journal ''Raw, violent, sad and sometimes funny ... does a fine job of presenting the human side of living in the wilderness.'' --- William Phenn, Reader Views