Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir

by Tony Hillerman

Sacred Clowns. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.

  Officer Chee attempts to solve two modern murders by deciphering the sacred clown’s ancient message to the people of the Tano pueblo.

  Hillerman, Tony, ed. Mysterious West. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

  Edited by Tony Hillerman, this first-ever collection of mystery stories set in the West contains twenty original entries by such luminary mystery writers as Marcia Muller, Susan Dunlap, and Robert Campbell.

  Finding Moon. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

  Moon Mathias discovers his dead brother’s baby daughter is waiting for him in Southeast Asia—a child he didn’t know existed. Finding her in the aftermath of the war brings out a side of Moon he had forgotten he possessed.

  Indian Country: America’s Sacred Land. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995.

  Hillerman describes the intangible yet powerful aura of the Southwest, America’s sacred land, while photographer Bela Kalman captures its beauty through his color photographs. The book is a tribute to a land where the land’s spirits are as real as its inhabitants.

  Fallen Man. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

  A man met his death on Ship Rock Mountain eleven years ago, and with the discovery of his body by a group of climbers, Chee and Leaphorn must hunt down the cause of his lonely death.

  Herbert, Rosemary, and Tony Hillerman, The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996 For this collection, Hillerman and Herbert have selected thirty-four stories that demonstrate the vigor and diversity of the American Detective Story genre.

  The Great Taos Bank Robbery and Other Indian Country Affairs. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

  Tony Hillerman, who knows the Southwest like no other contemporary writer; presents nine extraordinary, true tales that capture the history and rhythms of daily life in New Mexico.

  First Eagle. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.

  When Acting Lt. Jim Chee catches a Hopi poacher huddled over a butchered Navajo Tribal police officer, he has an open-and-shut case—until his former boss, Joe Leaphorn, blows it wide open.

  Hunting Badger. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.

  Hunting Badger finds Navajo tribal police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee working two angles of the same case—each trying to catch the right-wing militiamen who pulled off a violent heist at an Indian casino.

  Randisi, Robert, ed. First Cases: New and Classic Tales of Detection, Vol. 3. New York: Signet, 1999.

  The third volume in this indispensable series offers more fictional detectives’ inaugural cases—and includes two never-before-published stories

  Hillerman, Tony, and Otto Penzler, eds. Best American Mystery Stories of the Century. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

  An anthology of fifty-five brief mystery stories ranging from O. Henry to Dennis Lehane.

  Bibliographies:

  Tony Hillerman: From The Blessing Way to Talking God, A Bibliography. By Louis A. Hieb. Tucson: Press of the Gigantic Hound, 1990.

  Chronology, bibliography, including contributions to books and periodicals, and works about Hillerman.

  Tony Hillerman Abroad. An Annotated Checklist Of Foreign Language Editions. By Louis A. Hieb. Santa Fe: Parker Books of the West, 1993.

  An expanded version of the earlier publication with beautiful colored illustrations and listing books through Sacred Clowns.

  Hillerman, Tony, and Louis A. Hieb: Collecting Tony Hillerman: A Checklist of the First Editions of Tony Hillerman with Approximate Values and Commentary. Santa Fe: Vinegar Tom Press, 1992.

  This is a checklist that updates identification information for Hillerman’s American first editions and that has been augmented by values and commentary.

  Hillerman, Tony, Hieb, Louis A.: Fifty Foreign Firsts: A Tony Hillerman Checklist. Santa Fe: Parker Books of the West, 1991.

  Tony Hillerman: A Reader’s Checklist and Reference Guide. Middletown, Conn.: Checkerbee Checklist, 1999

  Books about Tony Hillerman

  Bulow, Ernie. Words, Weather and Wolfmen. Conversations with Tony Hillerman. Gallup, N. Mex.: The Southwestern Books, 1989.

  Bulow, Ernie. Talking Mysteries: A Conversation With Tony Hillerman. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991.

  Illustrated with photo-portraits of the contributors, gallery of black-and-white drawings by Ernest Franklin. Hillerman discusses the craft of mystery writing and contributes an autobiographical piece. Bulow adds an extensive interview. As an additoinal treat, a Jim Chee mini-mystery, originally published in 1981 and long unavailable, is included here.

  Coale, Samuel. The Mystery of Mysteries: Cultural Differences and Designs. Bowling Green: Popular Press, 2000.

  Four American mystery writers have contributed new dimensions to the mystery form. Tony Hillerman’s Navajos and their customs, Amanda Cross’s (Carolyn Heilbrun’s) academics and their feminist credentials (or lack thereof ), James Lee Burke’s southern Louisiana Cajuns and his own fiercely moral “take” on Southern gothic fiction, and Walter Mosley’s urban blacks and their close-knit culture have challenged the conventional mystery’s focus.

  Using feminist and black critical theory, mythic and historical patterns, and literary genre theory, Samuel Coale examines their works and investigates the compromises that each is forced to make when working within a recognizably popular literary form.

  Erisman, Fred. Tony Hillerman (Western Writers Series No. 37). Boise: Boise State University Press, 1989.

  A brief biography of the author as part of a series from Boise State University.

  Freese, Peter, The Ethnic Detective: Chester Himes, Harry Kemelman, Tony Hillerman.

  Greenberg, Martin. The Tony Hillerman Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to His Life and Work. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.

  The first authoritative guide to Hillerman’s “world,” which includes the geography of his novels, a personal interview, clans in Hillerman fiction, a concordance, and photographs.

  Reilly, John M. Tony Hillerman: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996.

  Critical companions to popular writers series. This study examines each of his thirteen novels and includes a biographical chapter and a chapter on his innovations in the genre of detective fiction.

  Sobol, John. Tony Hillerman: A Public Life. Toronto: ECW Press, 1994.

  A brief biography of Tony Hillerman.

  Englade, Ken. Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: People of the Plains. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

  Tony Hillerman endorses this richly evocative new series that portrays the day-to-day lives of Native Americans in the West during a volatile time of betrayals great and small.

  ———.Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: The Emigrants. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

  ———.Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: The Tribes. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

  ———.Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: The Soldiers. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

  ———.Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: Battle Cry. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

  ———.Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: Brothers in Blood. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.

  Preston, Lewis. Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: Cold Justice. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.

  Camp, Will. Tony Hillerman’s Frontier: Comanche Trail. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.

  Forewords and Introductions by Tony Hillerman

  Varney, Philip. New Mexico’s Best Ghost Towns: A Practical Guide. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987.

  Foreword by Tony Hillerman.

  Bryan, Howard. Robbers, Rogues, and Ruffians: True Tales of the Wild West in New Mexico. Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers, 1991.

  Foreword by Tony Hillerman.

  Campbell, John Martin. Few and Far Between: Moments in the North American Desert. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1997.

  Foreword by Tony Hillerman.

  Rutland, Robert Allen. A Boyhood in the Dustbowl 1926–1934. Boulder: University of Colorado
Press, 1995.

  Introduction by Tony Hillerman.

  About the Author

  TONY HILLERMAN is the former president of the Mystery Writers of America and has received their Edgar and Grand Master awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian’s Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, the Navaho Tribe’s Special Friend Award, the National Media Award from the American Anthropological Association, the Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Nero Wolfe Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, an honorary lifetime membership in the Western Literature Association, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. In addition to his election to Phi Beta Kappa, Tony Hillerman has been named Doctor of Humane Letters at Arizona State University and at Oregon’s Portland State University. He lives with his wife, Marie, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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  Praise For

  SELDOM

  DISAPPOINTED

  “A warmly old-fashioned reminiscence from the dean of the American regional mystery.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “Hillerman reveals the real author. . . . A great yarn.”

  —Glenn Griffin, Denver Post

  “A splendid and disarming remembrance of things past.”

  —New York Times Book Review

  “[Tony Hillerman] commits his own world—and his optimist’s attitude—to the page.”

  —New York Daily News

  “Beloved, imitated, admired and, above all, avidly read, Hillerman has, at age seventy-five, undertaken a memoir. Read it for insight into a master writer’s background and technique. Read it to be acquainted with a quiet man from small-town Oklahoma who knows how to tell a good story.”

  —Sunday Oklahoman

  “Man of mysteries seldom disappoints.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  “What shines through this memoir is Hillerman’s love of the written word.”

  —Bergen Record (New Jersey)

  “Seldom Disappointed is no disappointment. . . . An amazing reporter’s eye at work.”

  —John Sandford, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

  Also by Tony Hillerman

  Fiction

  Wailing Wind

  Hunting Badger

  The First Eagle

  The Fallen Man

  Finding Moon

  Sacred Clowns

  Coyote Waits

  Talking God

  A Thief of Time

  Skinwalkers

  The Ghostway

  The Dark Wind

  People of Darkness

  Listening Woman

  Dance Hall of the Dead

  The Fly on the Wall

  The Blessing Way

  The Boy Who Made Dragonfly (for children)

  Nonfiction

  Hillerman Country

  The Great Taos Bank Robbery

  New Mexico, Rio Grande, and Other Essays

  The Spell of New Mexico

  Indian Country

  Credits

  Cover design by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich

  Cover photographs by Kelly Campbell

  Copyright

  All the photographs in the insert courtesy of the author except where noted.

  A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers.

  SELDOM DISAPPOINTED. Copyright © 2001 by Tony Hillerman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  First Perennial edition published 2002.

  The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:

  Hillerman, Tony.

  Seldom disappointed : a memoir / by Tony Hillerman.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 0-06-019445-6

  EPub Edition June 2013 ISBN 9780062302106

  1. Hillerman, Tony. 2. Novelists, American—20th century—Biography. I. Title.

  PS3558.I45 Z474 2001

  813’.54—dc21

  2001024160

  ISBN 0-06-050586-9 (pbk.)

  02 03 04 05 06 /RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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