A review by abrswf
War Dances: Stories and Poems by Sherman Alexie

5.0

This was a fast, laugh out loud funny book. Having said that, it is also one of the more honest and thought provoking looks at how race plays out in our society these days. For example, it starts with a story that is both heartbreaking and -- somehow-- humorous -- about an encounter between the Spokane Indian narrator and an African American young man. Alexie spends more than a little time pointing out how awkward and even impossible it can be to navigate the competing narratives and claims of people from oppressed, but different cultures. I was a little less taken with his preoccupation with the romantic foibles and obsessions of aging men, as frankly some of his thinking is pretty darn sexist. The book is heavily if not entirely autobiographical, as is typical for Alexie.