Reservation Restless

By: Jim Kristofic

Narrated by: Jim Kristofic

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

In the powerful and haunting lands of the Southwest, rainbows grow unexpectedly from the sky, mountain lions roam the desert, and summer storms roll over the Colorado River. As a park ranger, Kristofic explores the Ganado valley, traces the paths of the Anasazi, and finds mythic experiences on sacred mountains that explain the pain and loss promised for every person who decides to love. After reconnecting with his Navajo sister and brother, Kristofic must confront his own nightmares of the Anglo society and the future it has created. When the possible deaths of his mentor and of the American future loom before him, Kristofic must find some new way to live in the world and strike some restless path that will lead back to hózhó - a beautiful harmony.

Acclaim

“Once in a great while, a miracle of a book comes along, a gift that both touches the heart and engages the mind. Reservation Restless is such a book. Kristofic’s entertaining, jaw-droppingly honest recollections of adventures and explorations on and off the Navajo Nation come with a poet’s respect for the perfect word in the perfect place." (Anne Hillerman, New York Times best-selling author of Rock with Wings and The Tale Teller)

"Reservation Restless is a book about growing up, loss, and arrival, all of it told in stories populated by walks, books, Navajos, mentors, river guides, canyons, and coyotes. Oh yes, and rainbows you get to touch." (Dan Flores, New York Times best-selling author of Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History)

"Beautiful, evocative, Kristofic has written a book that conveys that sense of mythic reality that pervades every corner of the Colorado Plateau. He reveals portals into indigenous mind rarely understood by non-Native peoples.... It makes you pull the nails out of your frame of reference in order that you may perceive with greater clarity." (Jack Loeffler, author of Adventures with Ed: A Portrait of Abbey)

About the author

Jim Kristofic grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Northeastern Arizona. He has written for the Navajo Times, Arizona Highways, Native Peoples Magazine, and High Country News. He is the author of Medicine Women: The Story of the First Native American Nursing School and Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life. He lives in Taos, New Mexico.

©2020 Jim Kristofic (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

It is a gift to see the world through Jim's eyes

I loved Navajos wear Nikes and was a little worried about whether I would enjoy Jim's adult life as much as I had enjoyed his stories of adolescence. I feel a little foolish that I had entertained that thought because he took that same wide-eyed spiritual inquisitiveness from his youth into adulthood.

This book is so beautifully written that I found myself in tears numerous times. For me personally, I believe his story about the yearling and how he wrote that chapter is absolute literary art that is as fine if not finer than anything anyone has written.

I laugh, I cried, and I learned so much more about life and the world around me.

Thank you, Jim. Thank you more than I can ever properly convey.

Amazing Follow Up book

I LOVE this book as the follow up to Navajo's Wear Nikes! I am Navajo myself and I love that Mr. Kristofic can pronounce Navajo words so precisely that I feel like my own Father is speaking! VERY well written with amazing detail of the land I grew up in. It did make me homesick pretty bad hearing about Lake Powell area and now I want to plan a trip back. I no longer live anywhere near the Navajo Reservation, and this book warmed my heart and my Dine' soul. Ahéhee' Mr. Kristofic, Ahéhee'.

Fascinating Memoir

I have lived in Ganado for almost 15 years and on the Rez for 23. It is very familiar. Know some of the places mentioned in the book well. The language can be a bit salty, but this is a good listen wjether or not you agree with all of Jim's conclusions. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Recommended.

Must-read sequel to 'Navajos Wear Nikes'

This book can stand on its own, but you'll get more out of it if you've read "Navajos Wear Nikes", Kristofic's memoir of moving to the Navajo Reservation as a boy and growing up through high school there in Ganado and nearby Page, Arizona.

"Reservation Restless" overlaps some with the earlier book, returning to a few episodes from high school and the beginning of Kristofic's mentoring by English teacher Lyle Parsons, who plays a major role in the new memoir. From there it moves forward to Kristofic's adult career as a college student and teacher back in Pennsylvania, and ultimately to his return to the Southwest. It shares a lively sense of humor and irreverance with "Nikes", but adds sustained themes (the importance of wandering while paradoxically being rooted, the deep history of the Navajos and their culture, respect for the environment and especially the Southwest's water resources), and a new vein of powerful poetic language, at times very moving.

The narration is a bit odd--slower and more deliberate than it was in "Nikes", sometimes too slow (and I found myself using the speed settings on my iPod at times). But always clear and easy to understand (and I say this as a hearing-challenged person), and of course Kristofic's familiarity with the Navajo language is critical as the book has many words, phrases, and even longer texts in that language.

With this book, Kristofic joins my personal short list of authors who have written about the West better than anyone else.

Another Great One!

Jim does another awesome job with this book. The detail and his impressions really paints a picture that makes you feel like you are there with him.

Not as great as Navajos Wear Nikes

I’d hoped to like this book as much as Navajos Wear Nikes, but it wasn’t as compelling a story. It kind of wandered, much like author. It didn’t seem to have a strong focus. The narrator was slow. I played it 1.6 speed.
I still think Jim is a good writer. This just wasn’t a favorite.