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From Publishers Weekly
Fresh, inventive, funny and intriguing, this latest novel from King ( Medicine River ) is an imaginative exploration of contemporary Native American culture. The plot revolves around the escape from a mental hospital of four very old Indians called Ishmael, Hawkeye, Robinson Crusoe and the Lone Ranger. These, however, are no ordinary natives. They may be the last survivors of the Indians interned at Fort Marion in Florida in the 19th century. Or perhaps they are the first human beings, as described in tribal creation myths. Their repeated breakouts--37 to date--have coincided with disasters: the 1929 stock market crash, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, etc. Their mission this time brings them into the lives of an eccentric Canadian Blackfoot family: Lionel Red Dog, who sells TV sets and has no ambition; his sister Latisha, who owns a restaurant that bilks thrill-seeking tourists by purporting to serve them dog meat; Uncle Eli Stands Alone, a former university professor who is determined to prevent the operation of a dam on Indian land; and Charlie Looking Bear, a smarmy lawyer who works for the company opposing Eli's cause. Wavering emotionally between Lionel and Charlie is Alberta Frank, who dates both of them and wants a baby but knows that neither man is husband material. King, a professor of Native American studies at the University of Minnesota, skillfully interweaves Native American and EuroAmerican literatures, exploring the truths of each. He mixes satire, myth and magic into a complex story line that moves smartly from Canada to Wounded Knee to Hollywood, and to a place beyond time where God and the native trickster, Coyote, converse. With this clever, vastly entertaining novel, he establishes himself firmly as one of the first rank of contemporary Native American writers--and as a gifted storyteller of universal relevance. Author tour. (Mar.) .
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
King's auspicious debut novel, Medicine River ( LJ 8/90), garnered critical acclaim and popular success (including being transformed into a TV movie). This encore, a genially wild tale with a serious heart, confirms the author's prowess. It involves the creation of a creation story, the mission of four ancient Indians, and the comparatively realistic doings of 40-year-old-adolescent Lionel Red Dog, unfazable cleaning woman Babo, and various memorable Blackfoot and others in scenic Alberta. Clever verbal motifs not only connect the stories but add fun visual themes, including missing cars and a ubiquitous Western movie. In the end, everyone is thrown together by an earthquake at white human-made Parliament Lake, compliments of the four old Indians and the loopy trickster Coyote. Smart and entertaining, this novel deserves a big audience. Essential for public libraries.
- Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 Water, Water and a Little Too Much Water,
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This review is from: Green Grass, Running Water (Hardcover)
This is the intersecting story of a cast of many colorful characters. There's Alberta, a University professor who wants to trade her two boyfriends in for a baby but no husband. There's her boyfriend Lionel who is about to turn 40 and is still working at a television store. Alberta's other boyfriend; Charlie is a "hot shot" lawyer. Then there's Eli who lives in an old cabin where a dam has been built, but not in use due to his injunctions to stop it. The character list goes on to other supporting characters and some symbolic ones.This is a very readable quirky book, interspersed with pages of magical realism and mythical characters. I truly enjoyed reading about the main and supporting characters. They were very lively and interesting souls with real, sometime quirky issues. However, I had a hard time getting into the magical realism and symbolic characters. They felt more throw in for good measure, then really fitting in. The other issue I had was the use of water as a symbol. The author made this symbol quit clear from the beginning but I felt like it was being pushed on me throughout the book. It just felt a bit like "over kill" to me. That said, this is a well-written enjoyable book. Especially for fans of magical realism, but also for readers who can look past that to the wonderful characters.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
If I could teach the world to read...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Green Grass Running Water (Paperback)
... I'd make them all read this book. I discovered it in my Native American Fiction class during my senior year at Yale, and in my four years as a literature major, I'd never read anything better. Thomas King is a genius. He is also, according to my professor, a man-- a fact that my entirely female class refused to believe after reading the brilliantly satirical reworkings of phallocentric myths and legends that he intersperses throughout the book. His characters are hilariously and achingly real; his prose transcends the written word in its effortless use of oral storytelling methods. If you're still reading my stumbling attempts to convey the brilliance of this book, please stop immediately and buy it. Buy a few copies, because you'll want to share this with your friends, and they won't want to give it back.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great romp, with some depth to it,
By
This review is from: Green Grass Running Water (Paperback)
This is a great romp. King has an almost Wodehousian sense of comic coincidence, but with a subtler and rarer touch. Although it is a hilarious book, the discovery of yet another connection between the novel's converging story lines is just as likely to elicit an 'ah ha' as a belly laugh. It's funny, but humor is applied with some depth.King pokes fun at his characters and their foibles, but he always does it with a certain sense of reverance. "Tomorrow, he would begin to floss." he says of one character when at the age of 40 he decides to finally do something meaningful with his life. It takes courage in a post modern, politically correct world, but maybe laughing with someone about their own cultural baggage is a sincere and accessible form of respect. I have to point out that from a Christian perspective, parts of the book could be viewed as sacrilegious. Although they are the heroes of the book, perhaps some aboriginal Americans would also consider his reworking of mythological stories as being inappropriate--I cannot say. I choose instead to interpret this in cultural instead of religious terms. One of the major themes of the book is the oppressiveness of western cultural imperialism and its affect on the remaining indigenous population. Its hard to do that without taking a poke or two at the religion that has so frequently been used as an excuse for non-religious cultural and economic activities. King is insightful and droll--no gender, race, or occupation is completely safe from his biting wit and sense of the absurd. A review on the book cover describes his similarity to Twain, and I think the comparison is apt. Like Twain, the dialogue is snappy, colloquial and believable. The story is funny, engrossing and challenging. I think Twain would have liked it and recommended it. I do too.
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