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donasbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Alexie became one of my top ten after the first story I read out of this collection. The rawness and vulnerability in Alexie's voice lend gorgeously to the stories of life on the reservation. So many of his pieces, while revealing the reality of his characters' lives, also allow a glimpse of the humor and camaraderie that sustains them. Read this book, if you're in the mood for beauty, tragedy, and comedy.
bikes_books_yarn's review against another edition
4.0
This book snapped me out of my Junk-food-reading a little bit and made me remember why I like a well written book that is not just about vampires doing it with each other and with wolves and showers... You get the drift.
It's one of those books where you reread a paragraph because it speaks to you - and you wonder if you should mark the page. Very enjoyable. I would recommend it!
It's one of those books where you reread a paragraph because it speaks to you - and you wonder if you should mark the page. Very enjoyable. I would recommend it!
squidjum's review against another edition
5.0
Books and beer are the best and worst defense. -Alexie Sherman
How much do we remember of what hurts us most? I've been thinking about pain, how each of us constructs our past to justify what we feel now. How each successive pain distorts the preceding. - Sherman Alexie, "Family Portrait"
bkdrgn303's review against another edition
4.0
Funny. Poignant. Tragic. Poetic. Sherman Alexie can WRITE. Highly recommended.
muzzystbrigid's review against another edition
4.0
The best descriptor of this book would be a shower of ice cold tears onto those unfamiliar with reservation life. Alexie paints a rather bleak picture of what goes on in the Spokane Indian Reservation through the perspective of many a story throughout the book.
Common themes are centered around defense mechanisms like humor and alcoholism which are employed to deal with the pain of generational trauma. Along with this, concepts such as being torn between the ways of his ancestors and how the world expects him to live are pervasive throughout.
Sherman Alexie navigates these tough topics with the guise of a distinct and beautiful prose that clearly contrasts the way things should be and the reality of his life.
A perfect summation of this would be, “Books and beer are the best and worse offense.”
Common themes are centered around defense mechanisms like humor and alcoholism which are employed to deal with the pain of generational trauma. Along with this, concepts such as being torn between the ways of his ancestors and how the world expects him to live are pervasive throughout.
Sherman Alexie navigates these tough topics with the guise of a distinct and beautiful prose that clearly contrasts the way things should be and the reality of his life.
A perfect summation of this would be, “Books and beer are the best and worse offense.”
readsewknit's review against another edition
3.0
Here's the thing: I was first introduced to Sherman Alexie last year; some of his titles were familiar to me, but once I heard him speak I read his memoir when it was released and have been working through some of his other books.
As I was reading this short-story collection, though, I heard murmurings that he might be caught up in the #metoo movement for abusing his influence in the industry in an attempt to pressure women into uncomfortable encounters when they'd originally believed his interest in their work genuine and professional. NPR did a story when Alexie's accusers came forward.
I'm not yet ready to separate those accounts from Alexie's work, so I finished this book with little enjoyment just to move on. So there's my non-review review.
As I was reading this short-story collection, though, I heard murmurings that he might be caught up in the #metoo movement for abusing his influence in the industry in an attempt to pressure women into uncomfortable encounters when they'd originally believed his interest in their work genuine and professional. NPR did a story when Alexie's accusers came forward.
I'm not yet ready to separate those accounts from Alexie's work, so I finished this book with little enjoyment just to move on. So there's my non-review review.
ericbuscemi's review against another edition
4.0
This is another book I was told about by someone that read it as a school assignment. My friend Mike introduced it to me while we were hanging out in Brigantine, New Jersey, and I finished it over that long weekend.
The stories are poignant and the writing is good -- Sherman Alexie has a distinct style that I enjoyed reading. A lot of the stories are funny and at the same time sad.
I understand that in 1998, Smoke Signals, a movie based on the book was made. I have not yet seen it.
The stories are poignant and the writing is good -- Sherman Alexie has a distinct style that I enjoyed reading. A lot of the stories are funny and at the same time sad.
I understand that in 1998, Smoke Signals, a movie based on the book was made. I have not yet seen it.
lisalikesdogs's review against another edition
4.0
I seriously love Sherman Alexie and loved the forward he wrote for my edition. Favourite stories: The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire; Jesus Christ's Half-Brother is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation; A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result; The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor; Witnesses, Secret and Not
janellejoy's review against another edition
2.0
Some of the stories were interesting, but overall a sad tale of life growing up on the Indian reservation. Too depressing....and quite a bit of profanity.