Corliss Joseph is a shy nineteen-year-old Native American bookworm and student at Washington State University who stumbles (literally) upon a book of poems by a mysterious writer called Harlan Atwater who claims to be a Spokane Indian. She thumbs through the book and finds a poem that fascinates her. Although Corliss is herself a Spokane Indian, the writer's name calls forth no memories or associations. When she checks the book out of the library, she finds that she is the first person to have read it, even though it had been on the shelves since 1972.
When Corliss brings the book home with another book of poetry by W.H. Auden, she is subjected to gentle but persistent teasing by her father and uncles, who do not understand why she wants to read poetry,.....
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