Photo by Vanessa Kay
Award-winning author Shann Ray returns to his hometown to read from his debut novel, American Copper, at Elk River Books on Saturday, December 12.
Called by Kirkus Reviews “a gripping epic” that’s “equal to Harrison’s Legends of the Fall,” American Copper dives into the violence and greed, as well as the romance and desire for atonement, of the American West. Spanning the tumultuous times from the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 to the copper industry of the 1930s, Ray’s novel melds lyrical, stirring prose with a painfully honest look at Montana’s brutal past.
Debra Mapgie Earling describes the book as “an expansive and luminous tale … told through crystalline prose. American Copper ushers Shann Ray into the company of Montana’s finest writers. Heartbreaking and heart pounding and not to be missed.”
Shann Ray is the author of the short story collection American Masculine, which received the American Book Award, the High Plains Book Award and the Bakeless Prize from the Breadloaf Writers Conference. His poetry collection, Balefire, won a 2015 High Plains Book Award as well. Ray grew up in Montana and spent part of his childhood on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. He played college basketball at Montana State University and Pepperdine University, and played professionally in Germany. He lives in Spokane, Washington, with his wife and three daughters and teaches leadership and forgiveness studies at Gonzaga University.
Ray’s reading will take place upstairs at Elk River Books, 120 N. Main St., and will be followed by a book signing and reception. Elk River Books specializes in collectible outdoor, regional and Western history books, and provides a lively venue for southwest Montana’s unique literary community. For more information, call 333-2330.
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