Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Night of the Living Rez | 2022 | Morgan Talty | Buy |
Night of the Living Rez (2022) announced Morgan Talty as a writer of unusual talent. The linked story collection follows David, a young Penobscot man, through episodes that range from heartbreaking to blackly comic. Talty writes about drug addiction, complicated mothers, absent fathers, and the pull of a community that is both sustaining and suffocating, all set in the specific geography of the Penobscot River valley in Maine.
The book was shortlisted for several major awards and drew comparisons to Tommy Orange and Louise Erdrich for its treatment of contemporary Indigenous experience. What sets Talty apart is his dry, controlled voice and his refusal to explain or justify his characters to an outside audience. He writes for and about his community with the confidence of someone who knows the territory from the inside.