Nerburn updates 'Wolf' travel tale

Kent Nerburn's books dwell in the twilight world of fable. Based on his own experiences on the Red Lake Reservation, they are too altered to be memoir and yet are not exactly novels, either. He writes them, he says, to help preserve the culture and traditions of native Americans.

In his 1994 book, "Neither Wolf Nor Dog," Nerburn wrote of traveling with a dog named Fatback and a Lakota elder he called Dan -- a real person, Nerburn says, but one who valued his privacy. At Dan's request, Nerburn changed his name and kept his identity quiet. Dan died in 2002, and now comes a new Nerburn book, "The Wolf at Twilight," telling more of his story.

The book came about after an experience in a sweat lodge on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. "I had to tell more of Dan's story," Nerburn writes. "I had to tell it so that an America that has closed its ears and hearts to its first inhabitants would be reminded that there is more to the Native experience than hatchets and tomahawks and casinos and powwows."

Nerburn, who lives in Bemidji, will be at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church, 2020 W. Lake of the Isles Pkwy., Mpls., at 7 p.m. Friday at a Birchbark Books-sponsored event at which he'll speak and autograph books.

Also ...

•Hey, how about a little poetry with that sandwich? Dobby Gibson will read from his latest collection, "Skirmish" (Graywolf Press), at noon Wednesday in the IDS Building. Yes, right there in the Crystal Court, poetry as you hurry past on your way to grab a sandwich. Gibson will read outside of Twice the Gift, a seasonal gift shop that carries items from nonprofits.

•Those slacks. That glitter. That hair. "Neil Diamond Is Forever: The Illustrated Story of the Man and His Music," by Star Tribune rock critic Jon Bream, has been published by Voyageur Press. The book is packed with photographs and behind-the-scenes details -- Bream has interviewed him seven times and reviewed countless concerts. Bream will be at the Rosedale Borders in Roseville at 2 p.m. Saturday, at Barnes & Noble Har-Mar in Roseville at 7 p.m. Dec. 2, at Barnes & Noble Galleria at 1 p.m. Dec. 5, and at the Electric Fetus, 2000 4th Av. S., Mpls., at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 10.

• This week's literary scavenger hunt question: Which Pulitzer Prize-winner wrote a poem that references the Walker Art Center, the Guthrie Theater, and the former Minneapolis Artificial Limb Exchange, and what is the name of the poem? This week's bookstores: Back to Books, 520 2nd St., Hudson, Wis., and Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls. For more: twincitieslit.wordpress.com.

•The Twin Cities Jewish Book Fair begins Saturday. Ernest Adams will read from his book "From Ghetto to Ghetto" at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Jewish Community Center, 1375 St. Paul Av., St. Paul. Kate Ledger will be there at 7 p.m. Nov. 10. For more information, go to www.stpauljcc.org.

•A book launch for "Qualities of Light," by Mary Carroll Moore, will be 7 p.m. Thursday at Open Book, 1011 Washington Av. S., Mpls. Moore is a former food columnist for the Star Tribune and teaches writing at the Loft.