Alaskans: Stories

Here are ten celebrated stories of contemporary Alaska, a full-color, no-holds-barred portrayal of life in the Great Land. ALASKANS 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, the selection includes Tanyo Ravicz’s classic novella A Fox in May, in which Jed Hanson, a boy on the cusp of manhood, becomes immersed in the terrors and beauties of the natural world. Part of a true literature of Alaska. Embraces the vast land to include firefighters, fishermen, quirky old-timers, startlingly real Natives, and eager cheechakos, male and female, who bring to this demanding, dream-filled world a memorable energy and a hunger for authenticity. Ravicz’s writing whispers, sings, and howls–about colliding passions, unforgiving realities, hard-won success, enduring love, and never-predictable joy. These stories tell lasting truths about our lives. –Jean Anderson, author of In Extremis and Other Alaskan Stories