"Let me say at the outset that this book is not about Bear (he would be spoken of in the singular and masculine, capitalized and without an article), or it is only incidentally about him. I am less interested in defining the being of Bear than in trying to understand something about the spirit of wilderness, of which Bear is a very particular expression. . . . Bear is a template of the wilderness."—from the IntroductionSince receiving the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for his novel , N. Scott Momaday has had one of the most remarkable careers in twentieth-century American letters. Here, in , Momaday passionately explores themes of loneliness, sacredness, and aggression through his depiction of Bear, the one animal that has both inspired and haunted him throughout his lifetime.With transcendent dignity and gentleness, celebrates Momaday's extraordinary creative vision and his evolution as one of our most gifted artists.