The University of Arizona Press

“This Music is a heartfelt story of genderfluidity, lesbian concerns, and the American West, told through the eyes of a mixed-blood urban Indian coming of age in a California of old.”—Deborah Jackson Taffa, author of Whiskey Tender: A Memoir

“This Music is a cartography of desire, of the roads ventured by a young queer mixed-blood ‘Indian’ girl making a world for herself where none before existed. Here, the lover of women and song comes of age and ages into a free life never promised. It is a poetic portrait of place, crafted by its time, and Gould writes in a register that gives it voice, movement, and visionary insight.”—Cherríe Moraga, author of Native Country of the Heart

“In this beautifully constructed memoir, each section moves the story of Janice’s life forward with the lyrical intensity of a prose poem. Although I loved her as a poet and musician for the last four decades of her life, I will treasure the ways in which her Maidu heritage and deep love of the American West shine through this new book.”—Judith Barrington, author of Virginia’s Apple: Collected Memoirs

“You need this book if you are a two-spirit creature in the ruins of the modern world. You need this book if you have been whittled down to half a spirit, eager to be made whole again. You need this book to navigate your own struggle, your journey, your destiny by the light of a guide like no other. The stories in this book, the luminous photographs, the scenes of sorrow and delight, the resonant testimony of relation to earth and community and self that fill this book will be a landmark, a source, a refuge. This is the kind of book you will want to share and somehow to emulate, asking of yourself, ‘How can I learn to be this brave, this honest, and this beautiful?’ If you miss Janice in the world as I do, here she is.”—Kim Stafford, author of As the Sky Begins to Change

“This Music is a notable autobiographical prose poem account of the life of Janice Gould, a lesbian Concow Maidu famed for her poetry and participation in Indigenous and queer / women of color publications of the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. It covers the memories and milestones of Gould’s life, including stories of her Concow Maidu grandmother and mother, her own birth and childhood, gender and sexuality as a young and adult butch lesbian daughter of a transgender woman father, life with different girlfriends, education and poetry, musical performances, working-class and writing jobs, travel and life in San Diego, Berkeley, Denver, Portland, and Tucson, the passing of parents, and a final contemplation on nature. It is a well-rounded account of a life re-edited after the passing of its author Janice Gould by experts in women’s literature and Native American literature. This book should be essential reading for its combination of Native Californian, lesbian, poetic prose, and photographic insights.”—Gabriel Estrada, author of Queer Indigenous Cinemas: Sovereign Genders from Seven Directions

“This magnificent memoir, long overdue, will keep not only Janice Gould’s remarkable poetry alive but also the heartfelt and heart-seeing life of the poet herself. Thank you, Janice, for leaving us the gifts.”—Greg Sarris, chairman of The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and author of The Last Human Bear

“What a rich, compelling memoir Janice Gould has left us. It brings my friend back to me like a song, and it will introduce new readers to a brave woman who was also a superb poet and musician. This is a life steeped in the American West, from her Maidu heritage to her many jobs, journeys, loves. The spare eloquence of her prose, its sensory details laid in with painterly care, together with her colorful life make This Music a book I will never forget, just as I will never forget Janice’s beautiful way of listening to the world.”—David Mason, author of Cold Fire

“Janice Gould meant a great deal to me—as a fellow poet and scholar, a valued collaborator, a confidant, and a friend. Many of us were aware of how good a poet she was, but few realized her wide range of talents: she was an excellent artist, a fantastic flamenco guitarist, and a master practitioner of Aikido. Janice illuminates these loves—as well as her great love for Mimi—in this amazingly warm, insightful, and readable memoir. Reading this book is a bit like being on a road trip through Janice’s life. She drives us all over California. She takes us to Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. We even sail to Tomales Bay and hitchhike to Connecticut. But this is a book of journeys both outward and inward. Janice is the one person I’ve known whose brilliance was matched by their humility. Both emerge in this wonderful book, itself a magical mode of music.”—Dean Rader, co-editor with Janice Gould of Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry

“Janice Gould’s This Music offers an intimate portrait of growing up in California, becoming a poet and musician, and making meaning in the world.”—Julie R. Enszer, editor and publisher of Sinister Wisdom