Exploring such themes as land, language, and identity, Momaday recalls the moving stories of his Kiowa grandfather and Kiowa ancestors, recollects a boyhood spent partly at Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, and ponders the circumstances of history and Indian-White relations as we inherit them today.

Collecting thirty-two essays and articles, The Man Made of Words attempts to fashion a definition of American literature as we have not interpreted it before and explores a greater understanding of the relationship between humankind and the physical world we inhabit.