My favorite reading experiences either teach me about something I didn’t know much about or shine a light on parts of our culture I am unfamiliar with. Part of the urgency of reading Junot Díaz, for example, is that the stories he tells are usually left on the margins if they get told at all. … More Living and Dying the Native American Life in America: There There, by Tommy Orange
“All must pay the debt of nature.” Annie Proulx’s work up to now has been many things, some of them seemingly contradictory: terse, blunt, sharp, distant, poignant, violent, humane, and more. With Barkskins she claims an entirely new term for her collection: sprawling. Clocking in at more than 700 pages, Barkskins begins with the stories of René … More Barkskins, by Annie Proulx: Book Review
“Getting blown up happened in an instant; getting put together took the rest of your life.” Louise Erdrich has made a career out of writing novels about Native American people, usually hinging on a crime of some sort, and with just a sprinkle of magical realism (although Erdrich herself objects to that term). It’s a … More LaRose, by Louise Erdrich: Book Review
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