A healer with a conscience and a mission, Valentine McGillycuddy has lived among the Lakota Sioux -- mending their wounds, delivering their children -- and had once called the great warrior chief Crazy Horse "friend." Now, with his frail, beautiful wife by his side, the doctor is heading to Pine Ridge, the newly renamed reservation in the Dakota Territories, to act as the government's Indian agent.
But the Black Hills are a powder keg with a short, burning fuse -- and Pine Ridge a cauldron of greed, deadly pride, lethal politics, and treachery that could destroy a man of principles.
And suddenly McGillycuddy's dream of saving a people is in grave peril of being blown apart by an ill wind of misfortune and missed chances -- a gale that is carrying him toward a date with terrible destiny on a killing ground called Wounded Knee.

The Indian Agent

Literature & Fiction

O'Brien, Dan

United States

HarperTorch

For twenty years, Dan O’Brien battled drought, overgrazed pastures, and falling cattle prices as he struggled to maintain his cattle ranch, The Broken Heart, nestled at the foot of South Dakota's Black Hills. Having to take stints as an endangered species biologist, English teacher, and handyman to help pay off his accumulating debts, he questioned the logic of this losing enterprise, but never lost his fierce love of the Great Plains. So when a neighboring buffalo rancher invites him to lend a hand at the annual buffalo roundup, O’Brien comes face to face with these mammoth, impressive creatures, and the seeds are planted for converting his own ranch from cattle to buffalo. Starting with thirteen calves, "short-necked, golden balls of wool," O’Brien embarks on a journey that returns buffalo to his land for the first time in more than a century and a half. In BUFFALO FOR THE BROKEN HEART, Dan O’Brien, a writer possessed of “a keen and poetic eye” (The New York Times Book Review), ranges freely under the big western sky, bringing the Great Plains to life in clear and vibrant prose. Whether he’s describing the grazing pattern of the buffalo (moving quickly from one pasture to another, thereby maintaining the diversity of the grasses), the ancient thrill of watching a falcon hone in on its prey, or the comical spectacle of a buffalo bull wallowing in the mud, O’Brien brings together a novelist’s eye for detail with an ecologist’s understanding to create an entertaining and enriching narrative. At once a heartfelt account of his struggles at the Broken Heart, a short history of the buffalo and its near extinction, and an engaging lesson in wildlife ecology, BUFFALO FOR THE BROKEN HEART illustrates the power of a dream and how life becomes infinitely richer when we dare to follow one. This is Dan O’Brien’s greatest achievement to date, placing him firmly in the canon of other great writers on nature such as Annie Dillard and Peter Matthiessen.

Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Random House]

For twenty years Dan O’Brien struggled to make ends meet on his cattle ranch in South Dakota. But when a neighbor invited him to lend a hand at the annual buffalo roundup, O’Brien was inspired to convert his own ranch, the Broken Heart, to buffalo. Starting with thirteen calves, “short-necked, golden balls of wool,” O’Brien embarked on a journey that returned buffalo to his land for the first time in more than a century and a half. Buffalo for the Broken Heart is at once a tender account of the buffaloes’ first seasons on the ranch and an engaging lesson in wildlife ecology. Whether he’s describing the grazing pattern of the buffalo, the thrill of watching a falcon home in on its prey, or the comical spectacle of a buffalo bull wallowing in the mud, O’Brien combines a novelist’s eye for detail with a naturalist’s understanding to create an enriching, entertaining narrative.

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Random House Trade Paperbacks

When a mining company discovers gold near the Badlands, South Dakota bank president Larry Sorenson moves to secure ownership of four cattle ranches that control access to the gold, beginning a feud between ranchers and developers

In the Center of the Nation

Avon/Books

The author's account of a 2000-mile journey from the Canadian border to the Mexican Gulf, with a young peregrine falcon he rescued from the wild. His purpose was to teach her to survive on her own. It is the story of one man's personal quest, searching for a balance between the wild and domesticity. Dan O'Brien has also written a novel, "Spirit of the Hills" and a collection of short stories, "Eminent Domain". He won the University of Iowa Short Fiction Award in 1986.

Rites of Autumn, The

Nature & Ecology

Anchor

The lives of three rugged individualist--Tom McVay, Bill Egan, and Katie Running--become dramatically intertwined as events collide in this novel of murder and revenge set in the Black Hills of South Dakota

Spirit of the Hills

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

Random House Value Publishing

The lives of three rugged individualist--Tom McVay, Bill Egan, and Katie Running--become dramatically intertwined as events collide in this novel of murder and revenge set in the Black Hills of South Dakota

Crown

Ten stories deal with a grieving son, a junkyard owner, fishermen, farmers, the rescue of a wounded mountain climber, and country life

Eminent Domain

Literary

Three Rivers Press

Dan O'Brien's gripping and provocative play, The Body of an American speaks to a moment in recent history when a single, stark photograph - of the body of an American dragged from the wreck of a Blackhawk through the streets of Mogadishu - reshaped the course of global events. In a story ranging far in time and place, from Rwanda to Afghanistan to the Canadian Arctic, and in powerful, theatrical language, Dan O'Brien explores the ethical and personal consequences of Paul Watson's photograph, as well as the interplay between political upheaval and the experience of trauma in an age saturated by images and information.

The Body of an American

Dramas & Plays

Samuel French, Inc.

The Contract Surgeon: A Novel

This beautifully written historical novel from one of the West's most popular writers tells the true story of the friendship between Valentine McGillicuddy, a young doctor plucked from his prestigious medical career and newly married wife to serve in the army during the Great Sioux War, and the great chief Crazy Horse. When Crazy Horse finally agrees to surrender to the United States, mistrust and treachery on both sides foster further conflict, and he is gravely wounded. McGillicuddy declares the chief his patient and struggles through a long night to keep him alive. Set in the sprawling Great Plains during the most tragic period in its history, this tale of bravery, justice, and love weaves a tapestry of time and events into the account of a single day--the last in the life of Crazy Horse--to reveal the secrets surrounding America's past.

The Contract Surgeon

Contemporary

Harper Paperbacks

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by O'Brien, Dan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by O'Brien, Dan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by O'Brien, Dan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Indian Agent

Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch

Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch

In the Center of the Nation

Rites of Autumn, The

Spirit of the Hills

Spirit of the Hills

Eminent Domain

The Body of an American

The Contract Surgeon