Dream Wheels

Richard Wagamese

Apr 2016 · Recorded Books · Narrated by Tom Stechschulte

About this audiobook

Rodeo cowboy Joe Willie Wolfchild, riding an explosive bull called See Four and moments away from becoming World Champion, suffers a devastating accident. His parents and grandparents use all their native wisdom to ease him out of his subsequent bitter depression, but without success. Meanwhile, in a distant city, a troubled young kid named Aiden plans a holdup that goes wrong and lands himself in jail. When he emerges, a sympathetic police officer arranges a job at a ranch, where his mother Claire will accompany him in an attempt to restore their relationship. It is the Wolfchild ranch. Supported by the ferocious strength and native spirituality of the Wolfchild women, Joe Willie and Aiden fight through painful transformations, and their physical and mental rehabilitations are mirrored in the age-worn chrome of an ancient pickup truck they restore together. As the two men first clash and then come together in a friendship that helps each overcome the challenge of reentering a world that's forever changed, Claire's eyes are opened to a life she has never hoped for and opens her heart to a love she still can't convince herself she deserves. Written with lyric intensity and a great respect for native teachings, Dream Wheels announces the presence of a major new literary talent, sure to take his rightful place alongside writers like Cormac McCarthy and Jim Harrison as a gifted chronicler of the modern West.

About the author

Canadian author Richard Wagamese was one of the leading indigenous writers in North America. He began his writing career in 1979, first as a journalist and then as a radio and television broadcaster. In 1991, he became the first indigenous writer to win a National Newspaper Award for column writing. His debut novel, Keeper 'n Me, won the Alberta Writers Guild's Best Novel Award in 1994. His other books included A Quality of Light, Ragged Company, One Native Life, The Next Sure Thing, Indian Horse, Him Standing, and Medicine Walk. He also published an anthology of his newspaper columns entitled The Terrible Summer, a collection of poetry entitled Runaway Dreams, and a memoir entitled For Joshua: An Ojibway Father Teaches His Son. He won the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction in 2007 for Dream Wheels and the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature in 2011 for his memoir One Story, One Song. He was also the 2012 recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media and Communications and the 2013 recipient of the Canada Council on the Arts Molson Prize. He died on March 10, 2017 at the age of 61.