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From Publishers Weekly
The characters of Alexie's acclaimed short fiction (The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven)-Thomas Builds-the-Fire, Victor, Junior, the habitues of the Spokane Indian reservation-return in this superb first novel, a lyric comic tale with magical realist overtones. A stranger arrives on the reservation carrying a magic guitar, which he's been given as part of his bargain with "the Gentleman" for blues immortality. Now he's trying to lose guitar, devil and deal. Taking the instrument off his hands, Thomas soon forms an all-Indian R&B band with Victor and Junior. The group, Coyote Springs, plays small clubs and bars and eventually goes on tour. They even attract their own groupies-white women Betty and Veronica and Indian sisters Chess and Checkers Warm Water. Will they succeed and, if they do, will they lose their souls? Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur D'Alene Indian, excels at creating colorful characters, and he fills his narrative with subtle and affectionate homages to other contemporary Native American writers (Jim Northrup, Thomas King et al.). Hilarious but poignant, filled with enchantments yet dead-on accurate with regard to modern Indian life, this tour de force will leave readers wondering if Alexie himself hasn't made a deal with the Gentleman in order to do everything so well.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Alexie follows up his story collection, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (LJ 9/1/93), with a first novel about an all-Indian Catholic rock band called Coyote Springs.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 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
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
such a good book,
By Nikki Grenier (Solana Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Reservation Blues (Paperback)
Sherman Alexie does such a good job with this novel. He brings the characters to life, and gives readers an understanding about what life on a Reservation might be like. Through the events that take place in the book, he shows the strengths of the characters and how they deal with occurrences other than what goes on in their daily lives.He paints such a bright picture of the setting and even the parts of the book that seem unreal come to life as if it were a normal thing. This book is excellent for many things: a class on ethnicity and identity, a fun summer read, or even just for gaining insight on the life of Native Americans. This book is worth reading!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting,
By "dudeofdestiny" (Alaska) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Reservation Blues (Paperback)
Well to start off i have never read any books like this. Some parts were amusing, and some parts were dispurbing. Sherman Alexie is a very skilled writer, and i would like to read more of his books. Sometimes I find myself confused at what he is writing. Some things seem so random, I don't know if there is some deep and phiosophical meaning or he is just throwing it in to make the readers confused and go searching for something that isn't there. Through out the book, I was sort of uncofortable. The Sherman Alexie does something that makes me feel bad about being white. I don't know if he ment to do this but it makes me feel ashamed to have ansestors that ran the natives out of there land. Also he talks about things that would seem unacteptable to most people. For example: One of the women characters has a dream about sleeping with a cathloic priest. Now i am not cathloic, nor am i even religious, but something about that made me also feel uncomfortable. I don't think i would recomend this book for all people. Either it if full of metaphors so deep that I can't understand it, or it is full of meaningless stuff that i can't understand, I can't tell. If you like books that do that to you then go for it, but also at the same time, even if you don't like the deep philosophical stuff, this book is worth reading, I don't how much truth is behind it, but I think it gave me a greater understanding about how Native American life is, or might be.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful story. . .,
This review is from: Reservation Blues (Paperback)
I am neither a fan of the genre of Native American mystical fantasy nor into the interpretation of dreams. But, I really, really enjoyed this book despite the fact that those were two recurring themes!! I have to also add that I have no idea if the book's depiction of modern life on the reservation was accurate, though I'm willing to assume that it was. The book was a recommendation from my younger son, Joey, and I have since learned that no one knows my tastes like my family. What the book did have was a great story, great characters, lots of rock and roll, and a strong resemblance to the writings of Tom Robbins. And these are all things that I enjoy immensely. The book was a linguistic treat with enough offbeat characters to definitely be reminiscent of Robbins at his finest. It will be a long time before I forget the man-who-might-be-Lakota and Simon, the man who always drove his truck in reverse. I also found the book to have appeal to the senses - I could picture the barrenness of the reservation - as well as a deep sense of poignancy - the friendship between Victor and Junior ran much deeper and truer that we were originally led to believe. The casting of Robert Johnson was also a stroke of genius. This was the first work of Sherman Alexie that I read; it will not be the last. Higher praise than that I cannot give.
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