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juperez's review against another edition
5.0
A writer just starting off shouldn’t be this good, right? By far, one of the most impressive debuts by any writer I’ve ever read. Alexie’s short stories form a mosaic of shared experiences from Native Americans who reside both on and off the Rez, brutal and often unromantic.
kymme's review against another edition
3.0
Some of these stories are absolutely heart wrenching gems. Alexie's voice is at once piercing and friendly, and there's an optimism underling the darkest moments here--and there are a lot of dark moments here. Part memoir, part magical realism, part weird, part genius.
mnboyer's review against another edition
5.0
I think an original review from the Chicago Tribune may have summed this book up perfectly, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is for the American Indian what Richard Wright's Native Son was for the black American in 1940."
This is a wonderful group of short stories about live on the reservation for contemporary Indians on the Coeur d'Alene reservation. Victor and Thomas are almost complete opposites. Thomas is always telling stories, and is a huge fan of the oral tradition, whereas Victor just wants to forget the past--especially the fact that his father is an alcoholic.
Many of the stories juxtapose the past and the present, the traditional and the contemporary, the warrior and the broken spirit. There is sadness and there is laughter. There is basketball and there is drugs. There is love and there is hate. all in all, this book is amazing--it never gets old.
This group of stories was also responsible for the creation of the film Smoke Signals--which I also highly recommend for those interested in the novel, film studies, adaptation literature, Adam Beach, etc.
This is a wonderful group of short stories about live on the reservation for contemporary Indians on the Coeur d'Alene reservation. Victor and Thomas are almost complete opposites. Thomas is always telling stories, and is a huge fan of the oral tradition, whereas Victor just wants to forget the past--especially the fact that his father is an alcoholic.
Many of the stories juxtapose the past and the present, the traditional and the contemporary, the warrior and the broken spirit. There is sadness and there is laughter. There is basketball and there is drugs. There is love and there is hate. all in all, this book is amazing--it never gets old.
This group of stories was also responsible for the creation of the film Smoke Signals--which I also highly recommend for those interested in the novel, film studies, adaptation literature, Adam Beach, etc.
nattygsmith's review against another edition
5.0
Funny, raw, and unrelenting, this set of honest and heartbreaking short stories is an indictment of this country's treatment of American Indians. Alexie throws politics to the wind and writes a clear-eyed vision of reservation life full of good, bad, ugly, and beautiful characters.
midwinteraz's review against another edition
4.0
I generally dislike short story collections because I feel like I never get to spend enough time with the characters after getting to know them. These stories share a lot of common characters, so it helped tie everything together and make it feel like more than a collection of disjointed tales. It's a fairly slim book, but the stories are packed full, so it's much more satisfying, challenging, and entertaining than a quick glance would suggest. Definitely worth revisiting in the future.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
3.0
a great book of short stories that all mildly flow together. The writing read more like song lyrics than a story but managed to paint a picture rather than lead you.
It was a great change of pace from the norm. I can see why it's part of the reading group!
It was a great change of pace from the norm. I can see why it's part of the reading group!
andydrew2's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of short stories that are all loosely connected. I think I like Alexie's full length novels better. I'm glad I picked this up though. A little dated, but good.
sloatsj's review against another edition
2.0
I thought the introduction to this was charming but the stories were just so-so. The "likeable loser" is a familiar protagonist in fiction that needs something more to sell well, and I didn't think being a Native American was in itself enough to do that.
pjgal22's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for a paper I had to write for a Film & Lit class. This book -- along with the movie Smoke Signals, which is based on one of the stories in the book and whose screenplay was written by Alexie -- quickly turned me into a Sherman Alexie fan. Alexie's stories of life on the "rez" vividly convey the sense of hopelessness and resignation that is the status quo for many reservation Indians, but his ample use of humor turns what could have been a very depressing book into quite an enjoyable read. I feel I understand American Indian culture a little better for having read the book, and I’m anxious to read more of his work.