To Save the Man
John Sayles
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
In the vein of Never Let Me Go and Killers of the Flower Moon, one of America’s greatest storytellers sheds light on an American tragedy: the Wounded Knee Massacre, and the ‘cultural genocide’ experienced by the Native American children at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School . . .
In September of 1890, the academic year begins at the Carlisle School, a military-style boarding school for Indians in Pennsylvania, founded and run by Captain Richard Henry Pratt. Pratt considers himself a champion of Native Americans. His motto, “To save the man, we must kill the Indian,” is severely enforced in both classroom and dormitory: Speak only English, forget your own language and customs, learn to be white.
As the young students navigate surviving the school, they begin to hear rumors of a “ghost dance” amongst the tribes of the west—a ceremonial dance aimed at restoring the Native People to power, and running the invaders off their land. As the hope and promise of the ghost dance sweeps across the Great Plains, cynical newspapers seize upon the story to whip up panic among local whites. The US government responds by deploying troops onto lands that had been granted to the Indians. It is an act that seems certain to end in slaughter.
As news of these developments reaches Carlisle, each student, no matter what their tribe, must make a choice: to follow the white man’s path, or be true to their own way of life . . .
In September of 1890, the academic year begins at the Carlisle School, a military-style boarding school for Indians in Pennsylvania, founded and run by Captain Richard Henry Pratt. Pratt considers himself a champion of Native Americans. His motto, “To save the man, we must kill the Indian,” is severely enforced in both classroom and dormitory: Speak only English, forget your own language and customs, learn to be white.
As the young students navigate surviving the school, they begin to hear rumors of a “ghost dance” amongst the tribes of the west—a ceremonial dance aimed at restoring the Native People to power, and running the invaders off their land. As the hope and promise of the ghost dance sweeps across the Great Plains, cynical newspapers seize upon the story to whip up panic among local whites. The US government responds by deploying troops onto lands that had been granted to the Indians. It is an act that seems certain to end in slaughter.
As news of these developments reaches Carlisle, each student, no matter what their tribe, must make a choice: to follow the white man’s path, or be true to their own way of life . . .
Product Details
| Publisher | Melville House |
| Publish Date | January 21, 2025 |
| Pages | 336 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781685891411 |
| Dimensions | 9.3 X 6.3 X 1.1 inches | 1.1 pounds |
About the Author
John Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996). He has written eight novels, the most recent being Yellow Earth (2020) and JAMIE MACGILLIVRAY: The Renegade’s Journey (2023), which was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice.
Reviews
"In To Save The Man, John Sayles has given us a harrowing story that not only deserves to be read but also reckoned with.” — Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls
"Sayles builds narrative tension...it covers a wide range of physical and emotional terrain." —The New York Times Book Review
“(Sayles’s) latest wrenching, masterful novel (is) a virtuosic performance by a gifted storyteller.” —Booklist, starred review
"Both tender and harrowing, To Save (the) Man demonstrates once again Sayles’s dogged commitment to unearthing the buried truths that contour the ground beneath our feet.” —The Washington Post
". . .an electrifying and convincing chronicle of resistance among Indigenous students at the Carlisle Industrial School in 1890. . . . Readers will carry this with them for a long time." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A well-researched study of state-sanctioned bigotry." —Kirkus Reviews
"To Save The Man takes us inside the Carlisle School, the most famous of 19th century residential Indian schools, where piously confident white teachers ruled isolated Indian children with a regimented brutality wrapped in good intentions. With kaleidoscopic empathy, John Sayles takes us by turns into the minds of those teachers and of the students whose resistance to bewildering tyranny is both heartbreaking and magnificent. Historically accurate, devoid of sentimentality, beautifully written and structured, To Save The Man is, hands down, the best book I've read in years." —Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow
“Set in 1890, the year of the Wounded Knee Massacre, John Sayles’s novel, To Save the Man, is a story of a culture taken. At the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, young Native Americans find themselves having to negotiate the demands of assimilation against the ways of life they’ve always known. A master storyteller, Sayles reminds us of the cost of history on the individual life. This blend of fact and invention makes for an unforgettable read.” —Lee Martin, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever
"Sayles builds narrative tension...it covers a wide range of physical and emotional terrain." —The New York Times Book Review
“(Sayles’s) latest wrenching, masterful novel (is) a virtuosic performance by a gifted storyteller.” —Booklist, starred review
"Both tender and harrowing, To Save (the) Man demonstrates once again Sayles’s dogged commitment to unearthing the buried truths that contour the ground beneath our feet.” —The Washington Post
". . .an electrifying and convincing chronicle of resistance among Indigenous students at the Carlisle Industrial School in 1890. . . . Readers will carry this with them for a long time." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A well-researched study of state-sanctioned bigotry." —Kirkus Reviews
"To Save The Man takes us inside the Carlisle School, the most famous of 19th century residential Indian schools, where piously confident white teachers ruled isolated Indian children with a regimented brutality wrapped in good intentions. With kaleidoscopic empathy, John Sayles takes us by turns into the minds of those teachers and of the students whose resistance to bewildering tyranny is both heartbreaking and magnificent. Historically accurate, devoid of sentimentality, beautifully written and structured, To Save The Man is, hands down, the best book I've read in years." —Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow
“Set in 1890, the year of the Wounded Knee Massacre, John Sayles’s novel, To Save the Man, is a story of a culture taken. At the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, young Native Americans find themselves having to negotiate the demands of assimilation against the ways of life they’ve always known. A master storyteller, Sayles reminds us of the cost of history on the individual life. This blend of fact and invention makes for an unforgettable read.” —Lee Martin, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever
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