Crazy Brave: A Memoir

by Joy Harjo

In this transcendent memoir, grounded in tribal myth and ancestry, music and poetry, Joy Harjo, one of our leading Native American voices, details her journey to becoming a poet. Born in Oklahoma, the end place of the Trail of Tears, Harjo grew up learning to dodge an abusive stepfather by finding shelter in her imagination, a deep spiritual life, and connection with the natural world. She attended an Indian arts boarding school, where she nourished an appreciation for painting, music, and poetry; gave birth while still a teenager; and struggled on her own as a single mother, eventually finding her poetic voice. Narrating the complexities of betrayal and love, Crazy Brave is a memoir about family and the breaking apart necessary in finding a voice. Harjo’s tale of a hardscrabble youth, young adulthood, and transformation into an award-winning poet and musician is haunting, unique, and visionary.

• ISBN10: 0393073467
• ISBN13: 9780393073461
• Publish Date: 22 August 2012 (first published 9 July 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: WW Norton & Co
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[laughingrachel]

I was assigned this book in a literature class, I had never heard of it before, and I am so glad I was introduced to it. Joy Harjo is a wonderful storyteller and has beautiful prose that really evokes emotion.

One of the poems in the book, This is My Heart, is also a song that Harjo performs, look it up on Youtube if you get the chance, it's beautiful.