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Permanent Astonishment

Growing Up Cree in the Land of Snow and Sky

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Permanent Astonishment

Written by: Tomson Highway
Narrated by: Jimmy Blais
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About this listen

Capricious, big-hearted, joyful: an epic memoir from one of Canada’s most acclaimed Indigenous writers and performers

Tomson Highway was born in a snowbank on an island in the sub-Arctic, the 11th of 12 children in a nomadic, caribou-hunting Cree family who traversed the tundra by dogsled and lived off the land. In Permanent Astonishment, one of the greatest writers of our time animates the magical world of his northern childhood, paying tribute to a way of life that few have experienced and fewer still have chronicled.

Growing up in a land of 10,000 lakes and islands, Tomson Highway relished being pulled by dogsled beneath a night sky alive with stars; sucking the juices from roasted muskrat tails; and singing country music songs with his impossibly beautiful older sister and her teenaged friends. Surrounded by the love of his family and the vast, mesmerizing landscape they called home, his was in many ways an idyllic far north childhood. But five of Tomson’s siblings died in childhood, and Balazee and Joe Highway, who loved their surviving children profoundly, wanted their two youngest sons, Tomson and Rene, to enjoy opportunities as big as the world. And so when Tomson was six, he and Rene were flown south by float plan to attend a residential school and begin the rest of their education.

In 1990, Rene Highway, a world-renowned dancer, died of an AIDS-related illness. Permanent Astonishment is Tomson's extravagant embrace of his younger brother's final words: Don’t mourn me, be joyful.

Infused with joy and outrageous humor, Permanent Astonishment offers insights, both hilarious and profound, into the Cree experience of culture, conquest, and survival.

©2021 Tomson Highway (P)2021 Doubleday Canada
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What the critics say

Winner of The 2021 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize For Nonfiction

Nominated for The 2022 Evergreen Award

Named one of the best books of 2021 by The Globe and Mail • Winnipeg Free Press • CBC

"Permanent Astonishment is a mesmerizing story rich in detail about growing up in a Cree-speaking family in Northern Manitoba and later in a residential school. Highway’s writing delights in tales of eating muskrat tails, speaking Cree (and learning English), preparing for a Christmas concert, and listening to Hank Snow on a transistor radio. While unstinting about the abuse he and others suffered, Highway makes a bold personal choice to accentuate the wondrousness of his school years resulting in a book that shines with the foundational sparks of adolescence: innocence, fear, and amazement." (2021 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction jury)

"Mesmerizing." (The Globe and Mail)

"Exquisitely written and both hilarious and painful, Permanent Astonishment is a testament to the power of culture, language, family and the land." (Winnipeg Free Press)

What listeners say about Permanent Astonishment

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Kisaageetiin

A beautiful look into the life of one of our most beloved playwrights, musicians, creatives... Fall deep into the sounds of Cree and enjoy Jimmy's wonderful telling of Tomson's journey. A lifetime in earnest, radiating love. A complete pleasure.

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Tomson paints with words

This is a such magnificent memoir and Tomson Highway is such a rich storyteller - he paints in words. I was engrossed in his journey and vivid recollections. Bravo.

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Dreamy

As someone who has lived in and loves northern Manitoba, this story will remind you to search for what you are missing at different points in your life and keep searching it out until your last breath.

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Loved it

The story is great and sometimes different . It’s so honest , funny and humble
The reader jimmy Blais did à and amazing job ! I want to listen to more of him I listen to a lot of audio books this guy is amazing

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Permanent Astonishment is one of the best books I’ve listened to this year.

I throughly enjoyed this memoir. Thompson gives us such a clear picture of his life in the north and his experiences growing up in the bush and attending residential schools. It is entertaining, funny, sad and very informative .

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A heartwarming story

I enjoyed the beautiful and loving descriptions of his family life, the naming of community members, and the joy that shines through his words.

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fabilous memoir

love of the land and lobr of famoly glimmer through evrty denyence. i eould recommend to anyone who eamys to "travel" to Cabads"s North.

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Especially effective as an audio book!

A wonderfully rich story peppered with humour and vivid depictions of indigenous life in northern Manitoba in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. The story teller is fabulous and brings the Cree language and translations into colourful sharpness for the listener. Thomson Highway shares his history of life on the land with his family and his residential school experience in a lovingly detailed and thoughtful manner.

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Outstanding perspective!

One of the best books I have ever experienced. An absolutely wonderful journey through the life of this person.

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So worth the listen.

I love this book. Everything about it. I listened to it every day in my bath and then thought about it all day.

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