Where White Men Fear to Tread

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Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means
Where White Men Fear to Tread.jpg
Author Russell Means
Marvin J. Wolf
LanguageEnglish
Genre Autobiography
Published1995
Publisher St. Martin's Press [1]
Publication place United States
Pages573 pp [2]
ISBN 9780312147617

Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means is the autobiography of Oglala Lakota activist Russell Means. Published in 1995 and written in collaboration with Marvin J. Wolf, the book examines his childhood, his activism for the rights of Native Americans, including his role in the famous standoff with the FBI at Wounded Knee in 1973, and his later forays into politics, film and television.

Reception

The book received mixed reviews. Publishers Weekly called the book a blunt and "absorbing epic" which demonstrates his "resourceful activism", while making no attempt to whitewash the messier aspects of Means' life, such as his drinking, failed marriages, and anger issues. [1]

The Los Angeles Times called it a self-congratulatory "exercise in propaganda and polemic" which grinds an axe against a white-dominated society. [3]

The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Means plays so much at being the warrior king that the commoners among us are turned off and shut out." [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means". Publishers Weekly. October 2, 1995. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
  2. 1 2 Staples, Brent (October 15, 1995). "Wounded Knee and Beyond". The New York Times .
  3. Olds, Bruce (January 21, 1996). "'Irreconcilable Differences' : WHERE WHITE MEN FEAR TO TREAD: The Autobiography of Russell Means". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 6 Mar 2016. Retrieved 2021-08-27.