The Shoshoneans

The Shoshoneans, published in 1966, represents a unique collaboration between the poet Edward Dorn and the photographer Leroy Lucas. Emerging from a period of intense interest in the American West and indigenous cultures, the book documents a journey through the Great Basin. Dorn sought to capture the reality of the Shoshone people beyond the ethnographic tropes of the era, focusing instead on a grounded, observational narrative that challenged the romanticized literary myths of the time.

The book is notable for its minimalist prose and the integration of Lucas’s stark, black-and-white photography, which serves to anchor the text in a tangible, contemporary landscape. While it was not a mass-market success upon release, it gained a reputation among scholars and enthusiasts of Beat-era literature and unconventional travelogues for its honest, unsentimental approach. It remains an essential work for those studying Dorn’s broader contributions to mid-century American experimental writing.