| B Street: The Notorious Playground of Coulee Dam Contributor(s): Reyes, Lawney L. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0295988533 ISBN-13: 9780295988535 Publisher: University of Washington Press OUR PRICE: $18.95 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2008 Annotation: A memoir in the form of stories about the notorious street of shops, restaurants, bars, and brothels where the workmen who built the Grand Coulee Dam spent their recreational hours and their wages. As a young boy Lawney Reyes wandered B Street with his little sister while their Indian mother and Filipino father eked out a living running a Chinese restaurant. The stories are set within the wider context of the history and culture of Native Americans whose villages were flooded and whose way of life was irrevocably altered by the dam. "[Reyes] grieves for the tranquil and nature-bound culture of the Indian village but relates, in the voice of an excited child, his delight at watching life in a rip-roaring Western boomtown that everyone knew was temporary." --Seattle Times |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Native American - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies - History | United States - State & Local - Pacific Northwest (or, Wa) |
| Dewey: 979.731 |
| LCCN: 2008006066 |
| Physical Information: 0.45" H x 5.58" W x 8.02" (0.47 lbs) 184 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Native American - Geographic Orientation - Washington |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: B Street tells intimate stories about the street of shops, restaurants, bars, and brothels where the workmen who built the Grand Coulee Dam spent their recreational hours and wages. From the beginning, B Street was the place to play and let off steam for the white workingmen who had faced the hard times of the Depression. It was a raucous playground that denied blacks and most dark-skinned Indians access to the frivolity, good times, and pretty ladies that were the main attractions of that provocative place. This vivid story of a colorful era is based largely on the memories of Lawney L. Reyes. As a young boy he wandered B Street with his little sister, Luana, and their dog, Pickles, while their Indian mother and Filipino father eked out a living running a Chinese restaurant. His mother's diary and the stories told by his parents and older members of the Sin-Aikst tribe contribute to his story. Reyes tells of hard times, dreams, and extreme courage and reveals the humor, toughness, and recklessness of the adventurers who came to work on the dam. He also describes the history and culture of the Indians whose villages were flooded and whose way of life was irrevocably changed by the building of the Grand Coulee Dam. |