Talking at the Woodpile

Signed by Author- Former owner's name whited out " In this humorous and refreshing collection of short stories, David Thompson reveals the charm and grit of life in the Yukon. Talking at the Woodpile is a masterful blend of fact and fiction, history and contemporary and intriguing stories that begin as long as 10,000 years ago. In "Frozen in Time," an unsuspecting miner discovers a frozen carcass while digging for gold. After much to do about the origin of the gigantic creature, the mammoth, and its unfortunate victim are laid to rest by the local First Nations community. In a moment of wry humor, Thompson describes a small-town rivalry that ends when a firewood thief blows his fireplace sky high, to the delight of his victimized neighbors. And in the collection's title story "Talking at the Woodpile," two long-time friends unwittingly challenge each other to a talking duel, which ultimately leads to a nasty case of frostbite, and an even nastier case of the cold shoulder. In his first collection of short stories, David Thompson portrays life in a small Canadian community, weaving his characters in and out of each other's tales and in and out of the history that shaped the great Canadian North."