Awards

• Winner of Minnesota Book Award (Autobiography/Memoir) 2002

Overview

In stark, haunting prose, first-time author Peter Razor recalls his early years as a ward of the State of Minnesota. Told in flashbacks and relying on research from his own case files, Razor manages to piece together the shattered fragments of his boyhood into a memoir that reads as compellingly as a novel. Abandoned as an infant at the State Public School in Owatonna, Razor spent his childhood at the hands of abusive workers who thought of him as nothing more than 'a dirty Injun'. He endures years of beatings 'with a broom or radiator brush -- whatever was handy' until, one night while he is asleep, one of the matrons attacks him with a hammer. Fearing for his life, he makes two failed attempts to run away from the orphanage. Quickly labelled a trouble-maker, he is later indentured as a hired hand to a farm family. The farmer beats him, clothes him in rags, and treats him like a slave, often working him to exhaustion without food or water. Remarkably, Razor struggles to attend high school and begins to dream of another life, but first he must endure the darkest and most vicious attack yet.

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9780873514392

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Peter Razor's coming-of-age story is a shocking revelation and succeeds where most other Native American autobiographies have failed. While the Locust Slept never confuses honesty with the truth, never descends into racial blaming, and refuses to use Ojibwe culture as a mirror in which the travesties of modern times are reflected. Instead, in a voice as simple and innocent as our childhood should be, he lets his experiences as an orphan tell the harrowing story of a lost generation of Indian children. While the Locust Slept is a treasure."" David Treuer, author of Little and The Hiawatha ""Peter Razor spins an intense and endearing tale of an American Indian youth abandoned to the cruel mercy of the state. As memoir, his voice is amazingly distinctive--giving a cultural story of human survival. As history, his work informs us of an almost hidden, dark time in our past."" Mark Anthonly Rolo (Bad River Ojibwe), former editor of The Circle, and author of My Mother is Now Earth ""Razor's story is a revelation . . . and is part of an honorable tradition of memoir writing by Native American writers, including Linda Hogan, Paula Gunn Allen, [and] N. Scott Momaday."" Library Journal ""A stirring tale of a Native American childhood . . . recounted in spare prose loaded with feeling and insight. . . . [A] valuable coming of age story."" Publishers Weekly ""Starvation, savage kicks, plotted escapes . . . not tales from a penal colony, these episodes were part of Peter Razor's early life, spent as a ward of the state. . . . While the Locust Slept is the evenhanded, compelling tale of his harrowing childhood. . . . While the Locust Slept is memoir of the best kind--a clear testimony to events of [the] past."" Ripsaw News ""A perfectly pitched memoir."" Kirkus

Peter Razor's coming-of-age story is a shocking revelation and succeeds where most other Native American autobiographies have failed. While the Locust Slept never confuses honesty with the truth, never descends into racial blaming, and refuses to use Ojibwe culture as a mirror in which the travesties of modern times are reflected. Instead, in a voice as simple and innocent as our childhood should be, he lets his experiences as an orphan tell the harrowing story of a lost generation of Indian children. While the Locust Slept is a treasure. David Treuer, author of Little and The Hiawatha Peter Razor spins an intense and endearing tale of an American Indian youth abandoned to the cruel mercy of the state. As memoir, his voice is amazingly distinctive--giving a cultural story of human survival. As history, his work informs us of an almost hidden, dark time in our past. Mark Anthonly Rolo (Bad River Ojibwe), former editor of The Circle, and author of My Mother is Now Earth Razor's story is a revelation . . . and is part of an honorable tradition of memoir writing by Native American writers, including Linda Hogan, Paula Gunn Allen, [and] N. Scott Momaday. Library Journal A stirring tale of a Native American childhood . . . recounted in spare prose loaded with feeling and insight. . . . [A] valuable coming of age story. Publishers Weekly Starvation, savage kicks, plotted escapes . . . not tales from a penal colony, these episodes were part of Peter Razor's early life, spent as a ward of the state. . . . While the Locust Slept is the evenhanded, compelling tale of his harrowing childhood. . . . While the Locust Slept is memoir of the best kind--a clear testimony to events of [the] past. Ripsaw News A perfectly pitched memoir. Kirkus

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