Lonesome Dreamer: The Life of John G. Neihardt

2016 | Biography

The life of Flaming Rainbow, Nebraska's first poet laureate. American poet and writer John G. Neihardt (1881-1973) possessed aninquiring and spiritual mind. Both talents came to the fore in BlackElk Speaks, the story of the Lakota holy man Black Elk, for which he isbest remembered. Over the course of thirty years, he also wrote thefive-volume, epic poem, A Cycle of the West, which told the story of the settling of the American West. Despite Neihardt's widespread name recognition, the success of Black Elk Speaks, and a list of critically claimed books and poems, Lonesome Dreamer is the first biography of Neihardt in nearly forty years. Timothy G. Anderson describes Neihardt's life from his humble beginnings in Illinois, to being named poet laureate of Nebraska in 1921, to his appearance on the Dick Cavett Show at the age of ninety. Anderson also delves into Neihardt's success as a poet far from the Eastern literary establishment, his resistance to modernist movements in poetry, and his wish to understand and describe the experience ofthe Plains Indians.

Offering insight into both his personal and hisliterary life, this biography reaffirms Neihardt's place in Americanliterary history, his successes and failures, and his unbreakable spirit.

Timothy G. Anderson (Author)