"An intriguing combination of myth, fiction, and storytelling that demonstrates the continuing power and range of Momaday's creative vision....These are magical words. Listen." —Washington Post

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday shapes the ancient Kiowa myth of a boy who turned into a bear into a timeless American classic.

The Ancient Child juxtaposes Indian lore and Wild West legend into a hypnotic, often lyrical contemporary novel. It is the story of Locke Setman, known as Set, a Native American raised far from the reservation by his adoptive father. Set feels a strange aching in his soul and, returning to tribal lands for the funeral of his grandmother, is drawn irresistibly to the fabled bear-boy. When he meets Grey, a beautiful young medicine woman with a visionary gift, his world is turned upside down. Here is a magical saga of one man's tormented search for his identity—a quintessential American novel, and a great one.

“Some of the finest writing about the plains I’ve ever read...The Ancient Child comes as close to a book-length prose poem as any novel you’ll see this year. Put aside your normal expectations and let it have its way with you, and you’ll be in for a real treat.”