New Releases by Michael Dorris

In strategic games with a unique mixed strategy equilibrium, players face both an incentive to best-respond to valuations and to act unpredictably. We developed a model of how neural circuitry represents a balance between these two incentives in the course of a decision. Choice is modelled as the result of the interaction between action value input from upstream brain areas and the noise inherent in neuronal networks: large differences in action valuations between options lead to reliable best-response choices whereas small differences result in a choice selection process dominated by noise. Action value input was measured in superior colliculus activity while monkeys played a saccade version of matching pennies. We found that model simulations based on these measures exhibit similar choice biases as found in behavioural data. Deviations from the mixed equilibrium strategy were predicted by the action value measurements within the model. This yields a neural choice mechanism that is capable of implementing both critical aspects of equilibrium formation in strategic games: best-response and stochastic behaviour.

Working Men features fourteen stories in as many different voices: of men and women, young and old, blue collar and middle class, salesmen and craftsmen, vets and draft dodgers. They are the voices of Native Americans, New England Yankees, southern gentlewomen, by turns serious and comic, gay and straight, playful and sad. Masterfully spun and compellingly crafted, these stories comprise a diverse gallery of characters, written with an almost magical ability to bring each one achingly, vividly, truthfully to life.

Starting in the present and moving backward in time, this tells the story of three women Rayona, her American Indian mother, Christine, and Ida the grandmother.

When Rayona''s mother disappears and winds up in rehab, her father decides she needs a more stable place to stay -- but not with him. After a few tries with foster homes, Rayona is sent to stay with her father''s mother, grandmother, and aunt in Kentucky, relatives she has never met. The surprises that await Rayona there lead her to an unexpected new view of her life. With humor and poignancy, Michael Dorris''s last novel is a jewel about betrayal, forgiveness and the unbreakable bonds of family.

In their only fully collaborative literary work, Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich have written a gripping novel of history, suspense, recovery, and new beginnings. The Crown of Columbus chronicles the adventures of a pair of mismatched lovers--Vivian Twostar, a divorced, pregnant anthropologist, and Roger Williams, a consummate academic, epic poet, and bewildered father of Vivian''s baby--on their quest for the truth about Christopher Columbus and themselves. When Vivian uncovers what is presumed to be the most diary of Christopher Columbus, she and Roger are drawn into a journey from icy New Hampshire to the idyllic Caribbean in search of "the greatest treasure of Europe." Lured by the wild promise of redeeming the past, they are plunged into a harrowing race against time and death that threatens--and finally changes--their lives. A rollicking tale of adventure, The Crown of Columbus is also contemporary love story and a tender examination of parenthood and passion.

Morning Girl, who loves the day, and her younger brother Star Boy, who loves the night, take turns describing their life on an island in pre-Columbian America; in Morning Girl''s last narrative, she witnesses the arrival of the first Europeans to her world.

Tells the story of Rose Mannion, an Irish woman transplanted in western Kentucky, showing how her legacy of love and betrayal affected succeeding generations of her family.

By turns lyrical, wise, and funny, this compelling novel, set in 16th-century America, tells the story of how one Native American boy turns handicap into an advantage as he crosses the often blurred boundaries between being a child and becoming a man. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Moss and Trouble, an Algonquin boy and girl, struggle with the problems of growing up in the Massachusetts area during the time of the first Thanksgiving.

A winner of the Scott O''Dell Award for Historical Fiction, this story re-creates the lives of Atba and Noche, two Taino children who live on a Caribbean island in pre-Columbus times.

Being of mixed blood and having lived in both white and Indian worlds, they give an original perspective on American society. Sometimes with humor and always with refreshing candor, their discussions undermine the damaging stereotypes of American Indians. Some of the interviews focus on their nonfiction book The Broken Cord, which recounts the struggle to solve their adopted son''s health problems from fetal alcohol syndrome. Included also are two recent interviews published here for the first time.

The bestselling author of The Broken Cord and Yellow Raft in Blue Water presents an engaging and masterful collection of essays that offers readers the opportunity to spend time with one of the most engaging minds of the contemporary literary scene. "Highly recommended".--Library Journal.

Interdisciplinary approach to the study of the science of alcohol for upper elementary and middle level students.

The prize-winning author of The Broken Cord and A Yellow Raft in Blue Water draws upon this powerful, poignant, and very personal examination of his reaction to the country''s overwhelming poverty.

The controversial national bestseller that received unprecedented media attention, sparked the nation''s interest in the plight of children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and touched a nerve in all of us. Winner of the 1989 National Book Critics Circle Award.

A collection of photographs that portray American Indians and Eskimos as they live today.

The papers of Michael Dorris, author and professor, contain drafts and galleys of The broken cord, A yellow raft in blue water, and The crown of Columbus. They also contain materials related to fetal alcohol syndrome and correspondence related to his books and to the television adaptation of The broken cord. Additionally, the papers include letters to Dorris'' mother and aunt Marion, notes, and papers concerning his teaching career at Dartmouth College.

Follows three generations of Indian women beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets, yet inextricably bound together by the indissoluble bonds of kinship.