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  • Split Tooth

  • Written by: Tanya Tagaq
  • Narrated by: Tanya Tagaq
  • Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (315 ratings)

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Split Tooth

Written by: Tanya Tagaq
Narrated by: Tanya Tagaq
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Publisher's Summary

From the internationally acclaimed Inuit throat singer who has dazzled and enthralled the world with music it had never heard before, a fierce, tender, heartbreaking story unlike anything you've ever heard.

Fact can be as strange as fiction. It can also be as dark, as violent, as rapturous. In the end, there may be no difference between them.

A girl grows up in Nunavut in the 1970s. She knows joy and friendship and parents' love. She knows boredom and listlessness and bullying. She knows the tedium of the everyday world and the raw, amoral power of the ice and sky, the seductive energy of the animal world. She knows the ravages of alcohol and violence at the hands of those she should be able to trust. She sees the spirits that surround her and the immense power that dwarfs all of us.

When she becomes pregnant, she must navigate all this.

Veering back and forth between the grittiest features of a small arctic town, the electrifying proximity of the world of animals and ravishing world of myth, Tanya Tagaq explores a world where the distinctions between good and evil, animal and human, victim and transgressor, real and imagined lose their meaning, but the guiding power of love remains.

Haunting, brooding, exhilarating, and tender all at once, Tagaq moves effortlessly between fiction and memoir, myth and reality, poetry and prose, and conjures a world and a heroine listeners will never forget.

©2018 Tanya Tagaq (P)2018 Viking
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What the critics say

“Tagaq’s surreal meld of poetry and prose transmutes the Arctic’s boundless beauty, intensity, and desolation into a wrenching contemporary mythology.” (The New Yorker)

“Though the protagonist’s coming-of-age story, generously and lovingly documented by Tagaq, is the anchor, Split Tooth is not a book that can be fully absorbed in one sitting. It’s possible to sink deeper and deeper into the narrative with each successive reading. Like a smirking teenager, Split Tooth blithely gives typical literary expectations the finger, daring us to see and experience narrative as chaotic, emotional, and deeply instinctive. And it succeeds.” (Quill and Quire)

“Tanya’s book is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever read. It’s deeply profound, emotional and personal, and furthers her artistic experimentation and genius into a new realm. I love her even more after reading it, and I’m once again awed by her talent.” (Jesse Wente, CBC Broadcaster)

What listeners say about Split Tooth

Average Customer Ratings
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Don't hesitate

So captivating, original, and well-produced. I will be listening to this multiple times. The singing is beautiful.

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heavy & poetic

definitely worth getting as an audiobook! Tanya Tegaq has a wonderfully expressive cadence as she reads ends each chapter with throat signing. the story is chilling and heart wrenching.

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2 people found this helpful

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best ever

each sentence drags her idea into a deeper more satisfying depth, until your are so fully immersed in her nourishing imagery, you wonder what the hell other authors having been doing wasting your brains? he elders are rich, her decolonial love makes me cry and her nature in that which I've ever longed for.

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What a rare glimpse into Inuit Life

While dark and bizarre, Tagaq lead me into a mystical arctic world. I’ve never heard throat singing like this and it worked so well with the poetry. I feel grateful and changed from this immersion.

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Beautiful, dark, erotic, celestial storytelling

This was my first read or listen to Tanya’s written work. It was beautiful, imaginative and intriguing to listen to, often I had to multitask when listening to parts involving children dying or suicide or child sexual abuse as that is triggering for me. This is her truth, her story and I understand the message now. Its one of unconditional love and belief in higher power and taking our strength back as women. Also, I’m beginning to understand and appreciate throat singing with it’s inclusion following the chapters, which is an added bonus! Amazed and in awe with her imagination and voice.

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Extraordinary.

I’ve never read anything quite like this book. To hear it read aloud by the author takes the text to another level of brilliance. The confluence of tragedy in myth and modern storytelling speaking to the depth of trauma in a way so profound it will shake you to the core. Indigenous excellence. I could not recommend this story more.

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spellbinding

Tanya Tagaq slays us. the best read audio book to date. it's not a book, it's a piece of performance art.

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    4 out of 5 stars

I may have enjoyed it more if I own the copy

I loved the poetry within the stories however I didnt understand the reason for the strange noises in between each chapter. it was a strange artistic choice. 🤷‍♂️

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this will sit with me for a long time

so important and so very difficult to listen to. so much time to sit with my discomfort. masterfully narrated.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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wow. just wow.

Normally I love reading to myself, but Tanya reading this, blending it with her incredible throat singing... transcendent. I was driving through northern towns while listening, transfixed. Sometimes I would just stay in my car to listen. Pretty much blew my mind. Buy the book AND the audiobook. You won't be disappointed.

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