From his home in a remote Eskimo Village, Nick Jans leads us into a vast, magical world: Alaska's Brooks Range. Drawn from fourteen years of arctic experience, The Last Light Breaking offers a rare perspective on America's last great wilderness and its people-the Inupiat Eskimos, an ancient culture on the cusp of change. With the eye of an outdoorsman and the heart of a poet, Jans weaves together these twenty-three essays with strands of Eskimo narrative, making vivid a place where wolves and grizzlies still roam free, hunters follow the caribou, and old women cast their nets in the dusk as they have for countless generations. But looking on the horizon is the world of roads and modern technology; the future has already arrived in the form of stop signs, computers, and satellite dishes. Jans creates unforgettable images of a proud people facing an uncertain future, and of his own journey through this haunting, timeless landscape.
Hailed as one of the best new books about Alaska when it was first released in 1993, The Last Light Breaking is now one of the classics of Alaska literature, used in classrooms from middle school to college, as well as recommended reading for anyone curious about the state. Author Nick Jans now lives in Juneau, Alaska, and has retired from teaching to write full time. His books include A Place Beyond, The Grizzly Maze, and Tracks of the Unseen. "This is simply the best piece of Alaska writing published in several years ...Jans has a strong feeling for place...He's a fluid writer, with an uncanny knack for finding the perfect image." -Homer News "He writes eloquently of wolves, bears, and caribou, and the stillness and grace of the arctic landscape ...Jans' insights into Eskimo culture and values ring with authenticity and warmth, and he writes with an unromanticized respect for his fellow villagers." -The Seattle Times