... pensive, lyrical ... Grounding readers in the concrete lets us trust Sarris as he reimagines Indigenous creation stories with their vibrant casts of animal-gods ... Sarris gathers from gossip, myth, dreams and science to investigate the imperishable power of story itself and how it helps us locate and claim a sense of home ... Delicious characters people his remembering ... Such irresistible authority extends to historic conjecture ... In clean, thoughtful prose with jewellike detail — whether pondering Yosemite, his childhood babysitter, a secret cave or the oak tree outside his house — these meditations enchant.
... resonant ... Sarris’s prose includes wonderful imagery ... Personal recollections complement these observations ... Testifying to the impacts of people on the land, the powerful memoir Becoming Story lauds the power of language when it comes to leaving tracks for others to follow.
