Ghost dancing

by Anna Linzer

Story by Graceful Story, Ghost Dancing reveals the evolving worlds of Jimmy One Rock and his wife, Mary. These tales link past and present - in Oklahoma and on a reservation in the Pacific Northwest - through memory, myth, ceremony, and a sly humor. These stories evoke both the pain and the desire of the Ghost Dance, a ritual once performed to restore the world. Ghost Dancing links together stories within stories, each of which contains the elements of pathos and humor. On a wild ride, from a dance with the Old Ones under an ancient black oak to the ceremonial burial of a '47 Nash to a strangely healing, feather-flying canine spirit curse, each tale crafts an emotional arc through Jimmy and Mary's marriage, and eventually takes us to a place that might be called home.