The Dogs of Winter | 
 enlarge | Author: Kem Nunn
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 197770
Media: Paperback
Pages: 368
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0671793349
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780671793340
ASIN: 0671793349
Publication Date: March 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: GOOD with average wear to cover and pages. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text
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Amazon.com Review
Kem Nunn's earlier surfing novel Tapping the Source was nominated for an American Book Award. In The Dogs of Winter, he draws again on the eternal legends and tall tales of surfers. Jack Fletcher is a pill-popping photographer on the skids who lucks into the assignment of photographing the aging surfing legend Drew Harmon and two young pros at the Heart Attacks in Northern California--an appropriately difficult-to-reach and shark-infested "mysto spot" reputed to have 30-foot waves. Not all dangers lurk in the ocean, however. The local Indians are unfriendly to outsiders and to each other; Harmon's young wife is obsessed with Indian witchcraft and a murdered local girl; and Harmon cloaks his own demons in laconic surfer-deity mystique. The hapless Fletcher and a local tribal council worker named Travis McCade desperately try to avert the curl of disaster that builds and breaks in this heavily atmospheric novel.
Product Description
Jack Fletcher is hired to take pictures of a dangerous, premier mysto surf spot off the Pacific Northwest. But disaster soon strikes when an Indian boy drowns--and the men from his reservation seek vengeance .
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 Among the few (yeah how cliche is that? write a review about it) good American authors December 10, 2007
Black Eagle Child (Wisconsin)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm a bit irritated after reading some folks' reviews of this great Nunn tale. Just like any experienced police officer will point out the ridiculous elements in a show like Law and Order or CSI, Kem Nunn is so privileged to have non-professional surfers bash his novel because it isn't up to code with an imaginary bible of surfing terminology or formatting. Readers need to understand that Kem Nunn is a NOVELIST, not a professional surfer. I'm sure if there were any Vikings around today, they would take beastly pleasure in destroying William Vollmann's wonderful novel, The Ice Shirt. For the sakes of these long-dead brutes, I will now imagine their criticisms, and yet, I still love Vollmann's work.
The Dogs of Winter, to me, is an incredibly demanding novel, full of wonderful coastal imagery and fantastic metaphor delineating the change of civilization and the previously 'wild west'. The author's obsession, channeled into the character Drew Harmon, with the history and formation of the surfboard itself, is a clever metaphor for this development in civilization. Where the boards that Harmon favors are those derived from ancient trees, rooted deep inside the Earth, such boards have inevitably lost the race to newer, more cheaply fabricated synthetic models. Nunn paints surfing as a now mostly null practice, with so much of the sport centered on branding and money. Drew Harmon and Dr. Fun are leftovers of a generation of Californians who still regard the sport as something done for the love of the waves and the beauty of the sport. Dr. Fun's film--which bears the same title as this novel--is a celluloid rendering of a purer version of the surfing scene. The death of Drew Harmon signals a blow against the pure lifestyle, though that 'scene' is fortunate to gain back Dr. Fun, saved from his prodigal life and returned to the coast for nothing but a love of the ocean.
Imagery and aesthetics aside, this novel is intensely gripping. If you're a regular to crime or suspense novels (which I am not), you may perhaps be able to unravel the plot before you read it, but if you allow the novel to take you along, you will not be disappointed. I think perhaps many readers try to out-think the author and guess what will happen next and maybe sometimes they are correct (how many outcomes can one expect from a largely-realist novel?). Readers who take the novel without the skepticism of an all-wise pro-surfer-wannabe or suspense aficionado will find an enjoyable ride up the coast of Northern California. Sure the language is a little cliche at times, but Kem Nunn doesn't claim to be Williams Faulkner or Shakespeare, Willa Cather or Herman Melville. He's just a pretty dang good American author and I'm glad that there are still authors like him around.
 "Dogs of Winter" a Satisfying Mix of Surf, Mystery, Adventure and Morality November 10, 2007
Gary (Massachusetts)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After reading Kem Nunn's "Tapping the Source," I wanted more. "Dogs of Winter" was my next choice. This is an even more ambitious and atmospheric novel with an eclectic cast of characters. Legendary surfer, Drew Harmon, recruits fellow surfer, Robbie Jones, and "washed up" surf photographer, Jack Fletcher, to shoot video of the surfers conquering "Heart Attacks," a mysterious spot somewhere on the Pacific Northwest coast.
Drew Harmon is a selfish loose cannon, intentionally oblivious to the delicate territorial rules of the Native Americans in the wilderness the three must hike to get to Heart Attacks. Drew is driven to the point of spooking Robbie Jones, carefree and immature, along for the adventure, and Jack Fletcher. Fletcher, excited about trying to erase the low point of his photography career with new surfing video, represents the conscience of the trio as their adventure turns into a fight for their lives when their presence upsets the balance of life among the tribes in the wilderness.
Generally, the Native Americans are not portrayed in a flattering way in this book. I don't know the truth, but trust that Nunn did his research. Travis McCade is a Native American lawman, who tries to maintain the peace enough to keep the federal government out of the affairs of the tribes. Just as Jack Fletcher is the moral conscience of the surfers, Travis McCade is the conscience of the Native Americans, trying to keep the events unfolding before him from slipping into uncontrollable chaos.
Nunn, as with "Tapping the Source," has a well-crafted story to tell and tells it in page-turning style, from the surf sequences, the battle with the Native Americans who resent the surfers' intrusion, and the ominous build-up to Drew Harmon's true motivations and dark secret.
Unfortunately, Nunn's writing style is schizophrenic. At times, it is concise and dramatic; at other times, it is wordy, convoluted, and a chore to read. As I read the book, a pattern seemed to develop: his dialogue is excellent, and description of action sequences are hard-hitting and to the point. All narrative in between becomes heavy, slow, and burdensome to read. I looked for purpose in almost interminable sentences, and usually found none. Not being able to believe that Nunn did not have purpose to his prose style, I concede that some of the surfing sequences benefitted from longer sentences to create the flow of an unfolding wave and the process of riding it. Inexplicable use of passive voice dragged a lot of the narrative down. I found myself wanting to turn the page to see what happens next, but dreading being confronted with ponderous prose. Reading sometimes seemed as hard as the surfers' arduous journey through the wilderness and coastline. (I'm sure that wasn't Nunn's intent.) If it weren't for the strong story, I may have put this book down.
I will probably seek out more of Kem Nunn's work, and hope that the writing is more consistent and concise. I guess "Tapping the Source" is a tough act to follow. But, in general, "Dogs of Winter" was a good follow-up for me. The story takes place in a wider landscape that is at once beautiful and terrifying, and provided more insight into the surf experience.
Another great Kem Nunn novel July 13, 2007
M. Hamton
Another great surfing novel by Kem Nunn. If you enjoyed "Tapping The Source", this one is a must read!
 Very Captivating March 14, 2007
Herb Silio
I truly enjoyed the book. Highly recommended to keep you company on those surf trips that take you to cold parts of the world.
 The Dogs of Writing... January 27, 2007
Ken Coffman (Mount Vernon, WA USA)
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
I didn't care for this book. As a cautionary example, please consider the following sentence:
"Though Fletcher supposed it was their destination they had come to, for it was clear they had arrived at land's end and he watched with some satisfaction these mists thrown up by the sea, swirling as they passed, achieving in many cases forms and shapes that only poetry, or perhaps his girl at his side, might have named."
Might this be the very definition of purple prose? If the sentence doesn't offend, perhaps this would be a fine book for you.
I hate to rank on a fellow struggling writer. By no means am I suggesting I'm any better. On the other hand, the reference to Julian Janes at the beginning of Chapter 7 should be Julian Jaynes. On page 360 the phrase `around the old sight' should be `around the old site'. I suggest Kem vary his sentence structure (repeated sentences that start with `She was' and `She saw' and "She anything' get tedious) and watch for overuse of words like `some' and `that'.
All offered in the spirit of constructive criticism, brother.
Ken Coffman is the author of Glen Wilson's Bad Medicine and other novels.
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