Fiction, Fiction Subjects

A Dream of Wolves : A Novel

Name: A Dream of Wolves : A Novel
Author: Michael C. White
ISBN: 9780060932367

by Michael C. White

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Overview

From the author of the critically acclaimed novels A Brother's Blood and The Blind Side of the Heart comes a brilliant tale of a decent man's struggle to choose between his past and his future, between the woman he once loved and the woman he now loves.

About the Author, Michael C. White

Michael C. White

Biography

Michael C. White is the author of four previous novels: A Brother's Blood, which was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers nominee, as well as nominated for an Edgar; The Blind Side of the Heart, an Alternate Book-of-the-Month Club selection; and A Dream of Wolves, which received starred reviews from Booklist and Publisher's Weekly. The Garden of Martyrs (May 2004) was a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award in 2005, and he also has a collection of short stories, Marked Men. He has also published over 45 short stories in national magazines and journals, and has won the Advocate Newspapers Fiction Award and been nominated for both a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart. He was the founding editor of the yearly fiction anthology American Fiction. Currently he is the editor of Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose.

He teaches fiction writing workshops and literature courses at Fairfield University, and is on the faculty of Stonecoast, the University of Southern Maine's low-residency MFA program. He lives on a lake in Connecticut with his dog Henry.
Author biography courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers

Good To Know

When I was in grad school in Denver, evenings I worked as a bouncer in a bar. I got the job mostly because I knew the manager from working out together in the local weight room. Though I had no experience whatsoever, somehow he was under the mistaken impression that I was tough, and offered me the job. It seemed easy, offered free food and drinks, and I thought it was a writerly sort of position, one that I could one day put down alongside my various jobs of painting, guard duty, and selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. So I said yes. How hard could it be, I thought. My very first night on the job, though, proved me wrong. It was closing time and a drunken cowboy was trying to convince a woman to go home with him, and "no" wasn't in his vocabulary. He got very angry and started to yell and threaten her and the bartender and everyone else within range. At this point, the manager called upon the services of the bouncer-yours truly. The manager told me to throw him out on his ear. I didn't know if I was literally supposed to make him land on his ear or not, but it turned out he was much bigger than I was and throwing him out in any fashion wasn't an option. He threatened to beat my head to a pulp. I My fear honed my creative skills. With everyone watching, I leaned toward the man and whispered in his ear: "You probably could beat my head to a pulp, but if you do, I'll be in the hospital and you'll be in jail, and we'll both regret it." Luckily, he was sober enough to see the wisdom of this and, grumbling, stormed out of the bar.

I grew up in a very blue collar family. My father was a farmer and later a carpenter, and when I was a boy I used to accompany him to work, helping him saw boards and pound nails. It was hard work, and I soon realized I didn't want to do something like that for the rest of my life. I've had only two career dreams. Throughout school I played baseball and hoped one day to play professional ball. A torn rotator put an end to those dreams. After that, my only other dream was to become a writer. I just hope I don't come down with carpel tunnel because I'm too old to start a third career.

I enjoy fly fishing, hiking, biking, and working out in the gym.

Reviews

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Editorials

Carolyn See

Taken on its own terms, this novel contains a fascinating collection of Southern customs. Its use of dialect is spare and elegant; original language trumps the predictable plot at each moment, so that even when the doctor allows as how he (duh!) loves both women in his life, we can appreciate how nicely these banalities are addressed. And, of course, male readers will recognize and sympathize with the doctor's timeless dilemma.
— Washington Post

New York Times Book Review

The cruel beauty of Michael C. White's spare, unflinching prose leaves the narrator nowhere to hide.

Anne Rivers Siddons

It's a wonderful novel, strong and tender and rich. I loved it...This book deserves a big readership.

Jacquelyn Mitchard

A Dream of Wolves recalls Faulkner's ability to create a plausible imaginary universe in which painful moral choices do not depend on health, wealth or position.

Beth Gutcheon

A Dream of Wolves is the work of a master craftsman. It is original, complicated, compelling and utterly believable, and Michael C. White makes it looks easy. A wonderful read.

Anita Shreve

In addition to being beautifully written and intriguingly suspensful, A Dream of Wolves, is a marvelous evocation of place and character, right down to the flinty-eyed stare of the backwoods folk of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. A raw and powerful achievement.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

White (A Brother's Blood; The Blind Side of the Heart) skillfully swirls gut-wrenching self-discovery and mystery in his newest fictional offering. Part-time medical examiner and full-time ob-gyn "Doc" Stuart Jordan is called early one morning to a murder scene at a cabin nestled in the frigid hills of North Carolina. Expecting domestic turmoil, Doc is surprised at the composure of the suspected murderer--the deceased's common-law wife, Rosa--and her absorption with her four-month-old baby daughter, Maria. Making a rash pre-arrest vow, Doc promises Rosa he'll care for her child. Despite his age--he's 50--his full-time practice, his current affair with a married woman, and his estranged wife, Annabel, who has drifted in and out of his life since the death of their son, Doc feels bound to keep his promise. Maria's entrance into Doc's world sends him on a new path, unearthing remembrances of his son; however, it is the reappearance of his wife that throws Doc into a tailspin. Annabel, who has been unstable since their son's death, believing she was partly responsible for it, breezes into his home, assuring him that she is "better" and able to care for the baby, but Doc is wary and unwilling to trust her again. Sleuthing on the side, juggling work and foster-parenthood, a wife and a mistress, Doc must also confront the ghosts of his past and search for a balance between forgiveness and acceptance. Facing pressure from his lover, who has just left her husband, to finally divorce Annabel, Doc is torn between the woman he currently loves and the one he's spent a lifetime caring for. White's emotionally packed novel delivers first-class examinations of morality, mixing strong supporting characters and unexpected plot turns, enveloping the reader in an extraordinary story. (Feb. 5) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Stuart Jordan's nearly 30 years of work as an obstetrician-gynecologist and part-time medical examiner in a small town in North Carolina has brought him satisfaction and respect, but his private life is a mess. His wife, Annabel, is a manic-depressive who was evidently responsible for the death of their six-year-old son 14 years earlier. Although Will's death caused Annabel to hit bottom, and she now drifts in and out of Stuart's life, Stuart has never found the energy or inclination to divorce her. However, during a routine murder investigation, Stuart finds that it is impossible to withdraw completely from life's commitments. A young Indian woman accused of murder extracts a promise from him to become the guardian of her infant daughter, an event that will bring Annabel back and force him to confront his growing feelings for Bobbie, the local district attorney prosecuting the case. Unfortunately, White's (The Blind Side of the Heart) writing in his overlong novel is ponderous and repetitious. He has neglected to develop his characters into anything more than stick figures who in conversation shift uneasily between sounding like the highly educated professionals they are and extras from The Beverly Hillbillies. Not a necessary purchase.--Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

From The Critics

In the southern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, Doc Jordan works as an obstetrician/gynecologist as well as the medical examiner. Doc's personal life remains in shambles ever since his son died fourteen years ago. Neither he nor his separated wife found solace in one another with Annabel tending to float in and out of his life. Instead Doc lives for his work.Doc visits a domestic murder scene where apparently the common law wife, Native American Rosa Littlefoot, killed her abusive husband Lee Roy Pugh. In spite of his full agenda, Doc takes their four month old child into his home. Annabel makes one of her evanescent visits and claims she is capable of nurturing the infant, but Doc has doubts. As he investigates the murder, Doc wonders if his girlfriend is right and that he should divorce his spouse so everyone can get on with their lives. A Dream Of Wolves is not your usual ME vs. monstrous odds that Vegas would take no book. Instead this tale is more of a human drama centering on morality based on one's relative outlook on life. Doc struggles with his future knowing that even in his late fifties, he can expect a life span of two to three decades more. However, what makes Michael C. White's tale special is the secondary cast also examines their present lives in terms of their future. Placing all that inside a mystery turns Mr. White's novel into a dream book for sub-genre fans that want realistic characters not superheroes.