William DArcy McNickle was born in 1904 in Montana to a father of Scottish-Irish heritage and a French-Canadian Cree mother. His mixed-blood heritage and his parents rocky marriage and subsequent divorce would strongly influence the future versions of his first novel "The Surrounded."

"The Hungry Generations" is an early, handwritten version of McNickle's groundbreaking and semi-autobiographical novel "The Surrounded" and consists of three distinct parts. Part one is set in McNickle's native Montana and has the protagonist, Archilde, reconciling with his father. This part corresponds most...