"Considering the 1936 publication date of The Surrounded, McNickle certainly belongs to that group of early Native American novelists comprised of Mourning Dove, John Joseph Mathews, John Milton Oskison, and others, but the book was followed by thirty years of silence and only with the publication of N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn in 1968 did Native American literature gain momentum once more. The canon has grown rapidly ever since, and a number of Native American writers have become an integral part of it. Unfortunately, the richness of contemporary writings has pushed earlier novels by Native American writers into the background and, frequently, are read only for their historic interest." "McNickle does not fit comfortably into this early group of Native American writers though, as his non-assimilationist plot, writing style, and technique set The Surrounded apart from novels such as Co-ge-we-a (1927) and Sundown (1934). A look at "The Hungry Generations," an earlier, handwritten manuscript version of The Surrounded in the McNickle Papers at the Newberry Library, shows clearly what a triumph The Surrounded really was. D'Arcy McNickle's The Hungry Generations is an important addition for those readers interested in McNickle and Montana and cultural history, as well as those interested in early Native American literature."--BOOK JACKET