Last Human Bear

Greg Sarris is an enrolled member of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and is currently serving his seventeenth consecutive elected term as chairman of the tribe. He is the author of several books, including the novel Grand Avenue, which he adapted for an HBO miniseries and co-executive produced with Robert Redford; the novel Watermelon Nights; Weaving the Dream, a biography of Mabel McKay; Becoming Story, a memoir; and the story collections How a Mountain Was Made and The Forgetters. Formerly a full professor of English at UCLA, Sarris serves on the University of California Board of Regents and the Sundance Institute Board, and he holds the Distinguished Emeritus Graton Endowed Chair in Native American Studies at Sonoma State University. He lives in Sonoma County, California.

Praise for The Last Human Bear:"This powerful novel by Greg Sarris is about one character, one place, one time, one curse, but it’s also about all the stormy impulses in any human heart that undermine love, joy, connection, all the ways that loss and privation lead to loss and privation. But it is itself lush and gripping as it follows one Native Californian from early girlhood to late old age, walking her own path through a changing world." —Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to Me"The Last Human Bear is a very complex, very moving meditation on personal origins and family lore, illuminating a part of California’s history that’s rarely seen in literature. It’s revelatory on every page.” —Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"A page into The Last Human Bear, Greg Sarris writes, 'The heart has no limits.' Thus begins an exploration of the heart—its longings, aches, grievances, regrets, hates, and loves. Sarris has given us a love letter to the western landscape and the people who call it home." —Lisa See, author of Daughters of the Sun and Moon and Lady Tan’s Circle of Women"Sarris has a master touch that is both delicate and vivid. The Last Human Bear is filled with this grace. This novel is so much more rich and complicated than a few words can express and it is so very worth it to discover that in the reading." —Sheryl Cotleur, Copperfield's Books"The grand return of a master storyteller, The Last Human Bear is a riveting journey into the intricacies of passion and how the legacies of the past can haunt us. Greg Sarris courageously explores the ethical struggles that emerge from genuine self exploration and offers a timely meditation on the possibilities for healing and reconciling with one's nature." —Peter Maravelis, City Lights BooksellersPraise for Greg Sarris:"I admire Greg Sarris’s sense of the gritty passion of life. A resonant thread of myth and laughter pulls the tales together. He allows the story to overtake him, the sign of a fine storyteller." —Joy Harjo"I have loved all of Greg Sarris's books." —Susan Straight"In clean, thoughtful prose with jewellike detail—whether pondering Yosemite, his childhood babysitter, a secret cave or the oak tree outside his house—[Sarris's] meditations enchant." —San Francisco Chronicle"Sarris has breathed new life into these ancient Northern California tales and legends, lending them a subtle, light-hearted voice and vision." —Los Angeles Review of Books"Greg Sarris explores questions about home, connection, and belonging in vivid prose that is both humorous and profound." —Electric Literature"[Sarris] imagines a possible future in which at least some Native lands are restored to their pre-contact health and serve as models for what the world might learn from Indigenous peoples, if it’s not too late to put such lessons to use." —Alta Journal