cover image The End of the Dream and Other Stories

The End of the Dream and Other Stories

John Gneisenau Neihardt. University of Nebraska Press, $30 (115pp) ISBN 978-0-8032-3326-3

Neilhardt, who wrote at the beginning of this century, was an intimate of the Omahas, a Native American tribe whose reservation was near his home in Nebraska. These nine stories, selected by his daughter, are set in Omaha society and depict the structure and rituals of that culture, all the while avoiding the stereotypes common to the literature of that period. Featuring characters of virtue and weakness, the tales nevertheless seem dated in their lack of emotional impact. Neilhardt's unyielding narrative tone and the interpolation of editorial asides, e.g., ``There has ever been something appealingly majestic about the defiance of an Indian,'' shadow these stories which, told in a patently empathic and sincere manner, may be of most interest to historians. (Apr.)