A review by sjklass
Dream Wheels by Richard Wagamese

4.0

When I heard of Richard's passing last month, I surprised myself at how hard it hit me. I'd been lucky enough to meet him a couple times, most recently last summer, and he is without a doubt one of my favourite authors. The loss of him in the world is so sad but his spirit and his books are immortal. On that day, Mar 11th, I knew exactly where on my bookshelves his books were and I picked Dream Wheels as the one book of his that I own but hadn't read yet. I read it slowly, savouring the words. It's one of his earlier novels and has themes and scenes that show up again in his later writing, like the medicine walk and of family stories told around a fire being like embers that burn through generations. Dream Wheels is the story of Joe Willie, a rodeo star who suffers a career ending injury, and of Aiden, coming out of 2 yrs at juvie and needing a fresh start. At a ranch in the Chilcotin region of British Columbia (where Wagamese lived), these two young men heal. "To his eyes, used to the dullness of concrete and steel, it was a feast, and Aiden sat straighter, watching it unroll before them. He could feel the openness work against his insides. As his eyes reached farther down the length of the valley, he felt smaller and larger at the same time. He felt less like he was moving through it as he was moving with it, becoming part of the sage and pasture and draw and the severe slope of the valley, and the feeling crested and broke against his ribs and he exhaled long and slow". Beautiful writing. A natural storyteller.