Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by katseye116
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
5.0
"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" is an amazing collection of interconnected short stories. Sherman Alexie's voice came through on every page. I don't mean just his writing voice, I felt as though I heard his actual voice in my head, speaking every word, making each story feel alive in a way I've never experienced before. It gave the stories a lilting cadence that brought them to life. I haven't felt such raw realism in writing since my first experience reading T.C. Boyle. Alexie's stories live.
He immerses the reader in the world of the rez, allowing us to know his characters as though they were our childhood friends, now grown up and dealing with life's pressures and pleasures. How he does this is a mystery and a joy. His writing is not overly descriptive or intricate. It is easily accessible, which makes its subtle power so much more amazing. Yet at times his prose takes my breath away. A single sentence, like this one: "He’d sit by the stereo with a cooler of beer beside him and cry, laugh, call me over and hold me tight in his arms, his bad breath and body odor covering me like a blanket." transports into the moment. He can encapsulate an entire love story in fifteen potent words: "But she loved him, too, with a ferocity that eventually forced her to leave him." His casually dropped mentions about the atrocities committed by white society on a once autonomous population pierced my soul. "While my aunt held her baby close to her chest, the doctor tied her tubes, with the permission slip my aunt signed because the hospital administrator lied and said it proved her Indian status for the BIA."
When he transports us into visions I feel as though magical realism is an everyday occurence. He gives us a glimpse behind the curtain of Powwows and roadside mocassin stands, casinos and bingo halls, which is all many of us know of the culture which once covered this land. Reading his stories made me remember every Native American I've ever known and see them in a different, more complicated light. I am filled with a new appreciation for their past, their heritage, their struggles, and their connection. I am left with a renewed admiration for indigenous culture. This book should be read by everyone.
He immerses the reader in the world of the rez, allowing us to know his characters as though they were our childhood friends, now grown up and dealing with life's pressures and pleasures. How he does this is a mystery and a joy. His writing is not overly descriptive or intricate. It is easily accessible, which makes its subtle power so much more amazing. Yet at times his prose takes my breath away. A single sentence, like this one: "He’d sit by the stereo with a cooler of beer beside him and cry, laugh, call me over and hold me tight in his arms, his bad breath and body odor covering me like a blanket." transports into the moment. He can encapsulate an entire love story in fifteen potent words: "But she loved him, too, with a ferocity that eventually forced her to leave him." His casually dropped mentions about the atrocities committed by white society on a once autonomous population pierced my soul. "While my aunt held her baby close to her chest, the doctor tied her tubes, with the permission slip my aunt signed because the hospital administrator lied and said it proved her Indian status for the BIA."
When he transports us into visions I feel as though magical realism is an everyday occurence. He gives us a glimpse behind the curtain of Powwows and roadside mocassin stands, casinos and bingo halls, which is all many of us know of the culture which once covered this land. Reading his stories made me remember every Native American I've ever known and see them in a different, more complicated light. I am filled with a new appreciation for their past, their heritage, their struggles, and their connection. I am left with a renewed admiration for indigenous culture. This book should be read by everyone.