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The
2003 Award
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The Last Canyon by John Vernon
Nominated by:
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Publisher of Nominated Edition: Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0618109404 |
| the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors. |
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ABOUT
THE BOOK
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| The
Last Canyon takes us deep into the heart of the elements, portraying
in vivid detail the human quest to understand nature at all costs. In 1869
a one-armed Civil War hero named John Wesley Powell launched four boats
on the Green River in Wyoming Territory, beginning what would be the last
major voyage of discovery in American history, through the country's only
remaining terra incognita: the remote and barren course of the Colorado
River. At the outset of his journey, Powell believed the inaccessible canyons of the Colorado were uninhabited. He was wrong. What he called "the great unknown" was in fact well known by a band of Paiute Indians who had lived on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for centuries. The Last Canyon weaves two converging stories: that of Powell and his crew, and that of a family of Paiute making their own harrowing circuit of the Grand Canyon in an attempt to rescue a kidnapped girl. It leads us into perilous geographical and emotional territory, culminating in Powell's struggle to finish his voyage with only two boats, not four, and five men out of the original nine. It traces simultaneously a voyage of discovery and a chronicle of loss, an exploration of both unknown land and the unplumbed human spirit. |
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
| John Vernon is the author of the novels La Salle, Lindbergh's Son, Peter Doyle and All for Love: Baby Doe and Silver Dollar, and of the memoir A Book of Reasons. The recipient of two NEA fellowships, Vernon teaches at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He lives in Pennsylvania and Colorado, U.S.A. |
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Find out more about the author on the following websites:
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