A review by rkw25
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt

5.0

I am tempted to mark this as non-fiction because it taught me so much about the experiences of persons living in the indigenous culture of Alberta, Canada, but its subtitle is 'A Novel.' Billy-Ray Belcourt has also written poetry and that shines through this book in his use of words and images. The narrator is a queer indigenous doctoral student in Edmonton who is stepping away from writing his dissertation to perhaps say more/better what he wants in a novel. To research the novel he meets up with longtime friends and family and also travels to the reservation and eventually to visit a relative in prison. In addition to putting the indigenous experience into memorable characters and words, there are musings on novel writing and the human condition. The narrator's experiences as a doctoral student in indigenous studies brings into play thoughts about colonialism, post colonialism, generational history and trauma, gender, politics, and family dynamics. A book I will ponder for a while.