- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (October 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 080613092X
- ISBN-13: 978-0806130927
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.2 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,364,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
Boundless optimism describes the mood of this uneven short story collection from an Ojibwa poet, playwright, and performance artist. Some entries show the hand of a master storyteller. Others read more like a thirdhand retelling of a master storyteller's work that has lost something with each new rendition. Love abounds, but whereas romantic love usually turns sour, the platonic love of fellowhood wins big. In "On the Run," for example, a middle-aged white cop and a young Indian meet at the police station where the young man's girlfriend is being held for the murder of her former husband; the cop ends up mentoring the young man through law school. Similarly, in "Harold Ball," a character described as "the most intolerant black person I or anyone else will ever meet" experiences a life-changing event on the bus he's driving and becomes the darling of all of Chicago's ethnic groups. A pleasant enough read, but not an essential purchase.?Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Here is an unvarnished, multifaceted view of the modern Native American experience. Two-Rivers' Indians, in these 22 stories, are much like other contemporary stories in their variety, except that they are more likely to take pride in their heritage, to have experienced discrimination, and to be prone to problems with alcohol. Among the strongest stories in the collection are several featuring children, who make up about a third of the population of the small town of Sapawe, Ontario (the author's birthplace), who fight, plot, finagle, and generally behave like rascals. The tone turns chilling in "Smoking Pistol Syndrome," in which a mentally challenged teenager is prevented from following the dictates of voices in his head that tell him to kill himself because he hasn't learned to put bullets in a gun--yet. Two-Rivers' opening sentences are attention grabbers, and their promise is generally fulfilled, although occasionally the stories' endings would be more effective if they were less prolonged. Overall, these are stories suffused with good nature and understanding and are worthy of attention. Michele Leber
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Notes from another Shinob,
By Michelle Christensen (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Survivor's Medicine: Short Stories (Hardcover)
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book that brings back fond memories of my own Ojibwe upbringing. Two Rivers writes with a style that is raw and true to his Anishinaabe people. Gchi Migwetch Eddie!
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's Fabulous!,
By David (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Survivor's Medicine: Short Stories (Hardcover)
I have known of E. Donald Two-Rivers' work since he started the "Red Path Theatre Company" of Chicago, and am glad he found the time in his busy schedule/career to write a book on short stories based upon the Native American experience(s).Good Luck E. Donald; and may the you always stay in the Gods' favor for Poety & Muse. David Andrew Shawanokasic, Menominee
5.0 out of 5 stars
Many Tongues,
By
This review is from: Survivor's Medicine: Short Stories (Hardcover)
I knew Harold Ball. I wasn't his friend because, as this book explains, for most of his life he drove people away. I wasn't at the party that changed his life, but I know some who were. In fact, I know everybody in this book. Set in the city, on the rez or on the road, these stories read as real to me as the last time I stepped out the door or walked into a truck stop. Each person has his or her own fully realized voice. But what recommends this book most to me are the narrator's voices.Many writers talk about cultural conflict, the Relocation Act or going back to the reservation, but few express it in more than one voice. Eddie Two-Rivers has the classic short story writer's gift for implication: "It was mid-afternoon-the time of day for sighing. That second when everything is just right and silence slices through time. A slight wind rustled the leaves of a nearby tree and the moment was lost to the past." (p. 54) He evokes nostalgia: "Timber supported the town and everyone in it. I remember it as a green, blue, and brown place: forest, sky, water, and sawdust everywhere. A great place for a kid." (p 221) Yet he also has that educated awareness that summarizes whole decades in short, sociological parapgraphs: "Bill and Glenda thought of themselves as second-generation urban Indians. Their parents had moved to Chicago's South Side during the 1950s in accordance with the Relocation Act. They met at Red's, a blues bar on Thirty-fifth and Archer Avenue. It was love at first sight. They dated a couple of weeks then decided to live together. Their families disapproved so they moved to the more liberal North Side. Both had been raised in working-class homes. Both regarded their families as being provincial, not with the times." (p. 144) But Eddie Two-Rivers also understands deeply the power of writing to heal communities and make each of us whole: "Everybody got something they do to make themselves feel better. Writing is my medicine." (p. 83) You may see it in other writers; you can hear it here.
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