Returning to Earth was published by Grove Press in 2007. Donald is dying — a large, gentle man of Chippewa and Finnish descent, married to Cynthia (David Burkett’s sister from True North). He has one request: to be buried in the traditional Chippewa manner, in the earth on the Upper Peninsula family land. The novel follows his dying and death through four narrators: Donald himself (dictating his story), Cynthia, David Burkett, and K (Donald’s friend).
Harrison writes about dying with characteristic directness: no sentimentality, no evasion, but also no clinical coldness. Donald’s relationship to death is shaped by his Chippewa heritage — the conviction that the body returns to the earth from which it came, that death is not departure but reunion with the natural world. His request for traditional burial is both practical (he wants his body in the ground, not in a funeral home) and spiritual (he understands death as homecoming).
The novel’s four voices provide different perspectives on the same event: Donald’s acceptance, Cynthia’s grief and rage, David’s philosophical distance, K’s practical loyalty. Harrison’s Michigan landscape — the forests, the rivers, the Lake Superior shore — is rendered with the intensity of farewell: every natural detail carries the weight of transience and beauty.
Collecting Returning to Earth
First edition (Grove Press, New York, 2007): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $15–$40
- Signed: $30–$60
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation.
Death and Landscape
Returning to Earth (2007) follows Donald, a man of mixed Chippewa heritage dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease, who wishes to be buried in the earth of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula rather than in a cemetery. The novel, narrated by four voices (Donald, his wife, his brother-in-law, and his son), is Harrison’s most quiet and meditative book — a sustained meditation on death, landscape, and the way the living carry on. It connects to True North through shared characters and settings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a depressing book? Less than you might expect. Harrison’s treatment of death is matter-of-fact and even tender. Donald’s desire to return to the earth is presented not as tragic but as natural — a completion rather than a defeat.