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Reservation Blues

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 6,112 ratings · 482 reviews

"Many may remember the tale of Robert Johnson, the musician who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads in exchange for being the best blues guitarist around.

What many may not know is that after this tragic deal in Mississippi, Johnson ended up in a small town on the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington state-at least that's how author Sherman Alexie tells it.

In h...more

Paperback, 306 pages

Published February 7th 2005 by Grove Press (first published January 1st 1995)

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

Native American Fiction

4th out of 405 books — 247 voters

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Favorite Magical Realist Novels

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May 05, 2012 rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, this-is-america, 2012, wild-wild-west

This is some very American magical realism, what with its mash-up of the Robert Johnson crossroads legend with life on a Spokane Indian reservation and rock star ambitions. Perhaps even more American than apple pie?!??

As a concept, I love American magical realism (see also: Swamplandia!, which coincidentally is about people who like to pretend they're Indian). The execution of the book I really, really liked too. Reservation Blues is full of nightmares and alcoholism, but also, funny digs at whi...more

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Apr 03, 2008 Lindsay rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Reservation Blues begins with the tortured soul of a musician, and his guitar. The blues musician, a reanimated form of the late Robert Johnson, hands his enchanted instrument to Thomas Builds the Fire. This guitar possesses skill, precision and soul, no matter who its owner is. Johnson had given his soul to the Devil in order to acquire these powers. When was given this guitar, he too felt the music radiating with its strings. This power, (note, this satanic power) compelled Thomas to create a...more Reservation Blues begins with the tortured soul of a musician, and his guitar. The blues musician, a reanimated form of the late Robert Johnson, hands his enchanted instrument to Thomas Builds the Fire. This guitar possesses skill, precision and soul, no matter who its owner is. Johnson had given his soul to the Devil in order to acquire these powers. When was given this guitar, he too felt the music radiating with its strings. This power, (note, this satanic power) compelled Thomas to create a band of his own. Two of his former bullies and two women from another tribe, joined together to form Coyote Springs. The band became successful, performing at other reservations and ultimately in New York City where they played for a record company. In a turn of events, the auditions went horribly. The guitar wouldn’t play and the magic that the band had once poured from their original songs was if it hadn’t existed. This was indicative of the plight of Native Americans in what is now the United States. When things seemed to turn up for them, everything tends to fall apart. The bitterness and well as the resent I imagine that Native Americans feel, is well represented in this book through their disdain for their government distributed foods. The theme of escape was present through out each character’s back story, but oddly enough each character returned.

What I especially liked about this book it its view of music and its acknowledgement of the effects music have on one’s soul. As I musician, I felt closely related to Robert Johnson. Music, characterized by his guitar, had captured his being to the point where it became hard to leave the instrument’s side. And because of this dependency on music, the link between music and Satan is easily identifiable and understandable. As well, Reservation Blues gave the reader insight into the lives of modern day Native Americans. Often we are all too familiar with the noble Native American riding his brave horse across green planes. This image is not only cliché, but its out dated and inaccurate of the average Native American. According to www.jointogether.org, five of the top ten causes of death are relates to alcohol and alcohol dependence. These numbers are three to four times larger than the national average. This book, while flawed in its complexity and predictability, I liked its array of situations and emotions afflicting Native Americans, a minority group often forgotten.
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Jul 25, 2008 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't know what I was expecting when I picked this up. I had read some of Alexie's short fiction anthologies and enjoyed them. Upon moving to Seattle and finding out that he was a local, I picked this up at a used book store, figuring I'd give it a read. I did not expect Thomas-builds-the-fire to get under my skin and change my life. Yet somehow he did.

I grew up a stone's throw from the Southern Ute and Navajo reservations. I had friends from both tribes through most of my public school years....more

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May 25, 2007 Ranee rated it 3 of 5 stars

I actually found this book along with many others in a trash pile on my way to work. I remember hearing a story of his once on NPR called, "What You Pawn I Redeem," which nearly brought me to tears by the end. Seriously, I actually sat in my car waiting for the story to finish. Pathetic? Yes. But it was a very dramatic reading. Anyway, I read the book, which was about a group of Indians on a reservation in Washington (I think most of his writing revolves around similar characters) who end up sta...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Satch rated it 4 of 5 stars

From my Book Club blog:
The International Fiction Book Club met the evening of March 20th, 2013 to discuss the novel, Reservation Blues by the Native American author, Sherman Alexie. We skipped around a lot on this one as the seemingly self-deprecating and cutting humor laced throughout the book spurred numerous positive reactions from members. We agreed that the use of humor along with the dialogue oriented narrative stimulated the reader and allowed for the general acceptance of the use of a so...more From my Book Club blog:
The International Fiction Book Club met the evening of March 20th, 2013 to discuss the novel, Reservation Blues by the Native American author, Sherman Alexie. We skipped around a lot on this one as the seemingly self-deprecating and cutting humor laced throughout the book spurred numerous positive reactions from members. We agreed that the use of humor along with the dialogue oriented narrative stimulated the reader and allowed for the general acceptance of the use of a sort of Indian “Magical Realism”. I should make mention that Alexie’s common use of the term “Indian” instead of “Native American” is evidence of the author’s own assimilation into pop-culture from an early age.
Alexie grew up on the Spokane Reservation, located in Western Idaho, sixty miles from Spokane, Washington. This is the home base for the three main characters in the novel, Thomas Builds the Fire, Victor Joseph and Junior Polatkin. Myth blends with reality early on as the Mississippi Delta bluesman from the 1930s , Robert Johnson, is met at the crossroads of the only town on the Reservation in 1992 by Thomas Builds the Fire. Thomas was the only Indian brave enough to offer a ride to the black man stranger who is on a quest to regain his soul. Legend has it that Robert Johnson became an accomplished guitar player when agreeing to sell his soul at the infamous crossroads made famous by Johnson’s song “Crossroad Blues”. As Johnson re-discovers his lost soul with the help of Big Mom (who is herself a timeless bearer of Indian tradition) the trio of Thomas, Victor and Junior are mysteriously taken over by Johnson’s guitar and coerced into forming the band, Coyote Springs.
Coyote Springs plays their first job at a tavern on the Flathead Reservation, located in Western Montana as depicted on a map brought in by a member of the group. The Flathead sisters, Chess and Checkers Warm Water, become backup singers and keyboard players as the group enjoys limited success. Coyote Springs are considered representatives of the Spokane Reservation by the Tribal Council but each member of the group has private demons that Alexie depicts gradually through character interaction and dreams that make it obvious that they only represent themselves in all their naivete and pratfalls.
An example of one of Alexie’s themes plays out when Thomas’ Dad is passed out drunk on the kitchen table and Thomas leaves Chess and Checkers to go outside and cry. He was not afraid to cry in front of women but “he wanted his tears to be individual, not tribal”. Spontaneous interaction in the Pike Place Market in Seattle where the group travels to contend in a “battle of the bands” leads Victor to accompany an old Indian singer whose hands are too worn out to play guitar. Playing the old man’s cardboard guitar, Victor helps him amass several hundred dollars. Success for Victor breeds excess as his alcoholism plays an integral part throughout the book. Coyote Springs wins the thousand dollar prize but Victor drinks up his share of the winnings. Coyote Springs appears to be gaining a bit of fame, however, it is short lived as they are rejected by the Tribal Council for having white women singing backup and for beings drunks. These “New Age” women attached themselves to Victor and Junior and seem to reveal the out of tune side to rock n roll.
Coyote Springs are flown to New York by music producers George Wright and Phil Sheridan. Their boss is a Mr. Armstrong. Earlier, we have a flashback in the memory of Big Mom and with a little research the connection is made. Generals Wright and Sheridan were instrumental in 1858 in defeating the Indians in what was to become Washington state and later the confinement of Indians to reservations. Armstrong refers to General Armstrong Custer.
Needless to sat, Coyote Springs falls apart in the big apple but not before revealing much about the difficulty of leaving the Reservation and existing in the white man’s world. won’t give away the ending but suffice it to say that the final scene is as breathtaking and ties together the wretched history of a colonized people.(less)

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Apr 18, 2013 Lucy T rated it 3 of 5 stars

The novel Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie showed the reader many aspects of Indian life, from the positives to the upmost worst actuality. The characters have personally experienced the sadness, as well as the miraculous traditions and happenings.
To Thomas, or Thomas Builds the Fire – the most reckless people in the world end are Victor and Junior; the young men who create the chaotic entertainment for the town. Drugs, sex and white woman - that could be their motto. Living in an Indian res...more The novel Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie showed the reader many aspects of Indian life, from the positives to the upmost worst actuality. The characters have personally experienced the sadness, as well as the miraculous traditions and happenings.
To Thomas, or Thomas Builds the Fire – the most reckless people in the world end are Victor and Junior; the young men who create the chaotic entertainment for the town. Drugs, sex and white woman - that could be their motto. Living in an Indian reservation has led the people to grow up with very mixed, and mostly disturbed childhoods. One of Thomas’ biggest memories was when his parents threw a New Years Eve party, and at the end his drunken father threw everyone out, took out the furniture to the front lawn, and set it on ablaze.
Robert Johnson, a blues singer, comes to town. With him he brings a 6 stringed companion, a guitar that will have its chosen player strumming away as if he knows the guitar like the back of his hand. But the reason that Robert Johnson has come to the Spokane reservation, is because he needs to visit Big Mom, a mystical woman who lives up high and never sees anyone. Or, never sees anyone she doesn’t want to. Thomas shows Robert Johnson the way to find Big Mom, and he lends Thomas his guitar. With this, Thomas decides to start up a band. Ironically – this band: Coyote Springs - consists of Thomas Builds the Fire, Victor and Junior. On their road to success there are many struggles such as money, transportation, real talent and keeping the band members from committing federal crimes against each other every time an argument got heated. Along the way, the band members meet two female Indians from the Flathead reservation.
Checkers and Chess both had hard lives growing up with a family that suffered through losing a baby brother, leading to her mother’s death, and a father who ended up meeting his problems at the bottom of a bottle. Checkers decides after a quarrel with Victor that she would rather stay home while the band goes to their gigs. She stays at the Spokane reservation, going to Church and even falling head over heels for the priest.
Chess stays with the band and is a singer with Thomas. As these two spend time with the band, learning to put up with Victor and Juniors ruckus, they end up realizing that their feelings for each other are more than friendly. They share past childhood experiences, and assist each other in their personal life paths.
Victor and Junior continue to become self destructive as the story goes on. They drink, pass out, and find a particular liking for two band groupies whose names are Betty and Veronica. But although these two men seem to be a waste of space and talent, they end up showing valuable life lessons as the magical Big Mom tries to help them find their way to a life of somewhat purity.
Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie was an excellent book and I enjoyed reading it. It showed to me the reality of Indian reservation poverty and alcoholism, through a mesmerizing story about Coyote Springs.
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Apr 14, 2013 Bill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary

The Indian Wars Today (2012)

Alexie, Sherman (1995). Reservation Blues. New York: Warner Books. 306 pages.

I confess immediately that I am a huge fan of Sherman Alexie and I think this book is an artistic masterpiece. I acknowledge that most of my friends do not share my opinion. Okay, that's out of the way.

Each chapter opens with lyrics from a song. The first is from Alexie’s imaginary (as far as I know) song, Reservation Blues: “Dancing all alone, feeling nothing good, It’s been so long since s...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Sidna Bookout rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm amazed to see that this book had four stars. If I had not had to read it for a book club discussion, I would have given up on it about 1/3 of the way through.

The book begins with Robert Johnson, the blues legend from rural Mississippi, who supposedly sold his soul to the devil so that he could become the best guitar player in the world. Johnson shows up on the Spokane Indian reservation in Wellpinit, WA. Since not many strangers visit the reservation and few of the Indians have seen a black...more

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May 01, 2012 Jackalacka rated it 4 of 5 stars

Finished my third Sherman Alexie book and again, this is another book taking place on the Spokane Indian reservation in Wellpinit, WA. If you've read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and liked it, then you will like this since it's a whole book about Thomas Falls-Apart, Junior, and Victor and for once Thomas isn't getting beat up! In fact, he's the lead singer of the band they form and he finally gets the girl! I really liked Thomas in LR&TFINH and then I rented the movie Smoke...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Pamela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie chronicles the coming-of-age struggles of several teen Native Americans. Set against the backdrop of reservation poverty and dysfunction, the teens are united by their optimistic garage band hopes. Eventually they travel off the reservation and straight into some typical rock band problems. In the end, they find themselves back on the reservation, a place both comforting and harrowing to them all.

Although this book is fiction, at times Alexie’s descriptive wri...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who enjoy poetry and Native American culture

A Spokane Indian from eastern Washington (known most notably for his short story collection, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, which was later adapted into the film, Smoke Signals), Sherman Alexie has an uncanny ability to ignite words with such vivid tenacity and imagery that opening up one of his books feels more like looking at a collection of paintings than reading words on a page. Plot is often simple — full of humanity and wrought with magical realism; there is nothing out of...more A Spokane Indian from eastern Washington (known most notably for his short story collection, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, which was later adapted into the film, Smoke Signals), Sherman Alexie has an uncanny ability to ignite words with such vivid tenacity and imagery that opening up one of his books feels more like looking at a collection of paintings than reading words on a page. Plot is often simple — full of humanity and wrought with magical realism; there is nothing out of the realm of possibility for the characters of Alexie's world, whose dreams are merely extensions of day-to-day reality.

His novel, Reservation Blues, builds on to the lives of Thomas Builds-the-Fire and Victor Joseph, who are first presented in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, a collection of short stories by Alexie. Thomas is kind-hearted, but talks a little too much, and has stories for everything, which are sometimes true, sometimes not; Victor, along with his close friend Junior Polatkin, are usually drunk and/or causing some sort of havoc on the reservation and/or in Thomas' life.

But everything changes when Robert Johnson, a guitar player from the 20's who died in the late 30's, arrives on the rez with a magical guitar in hand, hoping to escape someone called 'The Gentleman', who has control of his soul and who once bestowed on him the power of Music. He passes his guitar to Thomas, who then gives it to Victor in exchange for his and Junior's help in starting up a band. This band is Coyote Springs, and despite the boys having close to no musical talent whatsoever, they hold nothing but the highest hopes of musical stardom, as well as a guarantee for drama.

Thus begins Alexie's tale of Indian dreams: some lost, some only just being discovered. With the help of two Flathead Indian sisters, Chess and Checkers Warm Water, the band takes a running leap across the States, free from the reservation but now facing the reality of the White Man's World.

Full of fantasy and dreams, imbued with wit and love, there is also an urgency in the sadness that lies within Alexie's story. The truth regarding the conditions of life on the rez, the place of religion in the saving of these Indian souls, the effect of alcohol on an Indian's sense of being, their families, their lovers... It all resonates with such power and honesty that Reservation Blues becomes so much more than a simple story of poetry, friendship and the desire for success. It is commentary on the American Dream and the limitations forced upon its earliest inhabitants, the pain that comes with accepting or transcending tradition, culture, Home and race.

Alexie uses all types of art in his writing: the music is there, between the lines and in the flow of his prose and poetry, and you soar when reading. The book is less about events than it is about art and language and cultural identity, so this read may not be for those who simply wish to be entertained. The humor is subtle and beautiful, but could easily go over some people's heads. The ending is a bit anti-climactic, but if your expectations are low, you'll probably handle the dramatic 'letdown' fairly well. Just take your time and enjoy the prose.

I'd recommend looking into one of Alexie's short stories to see if you enjoy is style. If you do, it is consistent throughout his work, so you're likely to enjoy Reservation Blues. If poetry and subtlety and a highly ethereal experience don't interest you and you just want some mindless action, skip this and go read The Da Vinci Code, again.(less)

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Nov 15, 2011 Alyssa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues was published in 1966 by Grove Press. The 306 pages contain 10 sets of song lyrics accompanying 10 chapters. The book follows the lives of a small Indian band and their lives on the reservation, and their failure off of it. In Reservation Blues, Alexie (a Native American activist) explores the devastation and horrendous life of that which is the modern American Indian.

The book incorporates lyrics with each chapter – the lyrics generally have to do with the them...more Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues was published in 1966 by Grove Press. The 306 pages contain 10 sets of song lyrics accompanying 10 chapters. The book follows the lives of a small Indian band and their lives on the reservation, and their failure off of it. In Reservation Blues, Alexie (a Native American activist) explores the devastation and horrendous life of that which is the modern American Indian.

The book incorporates lyrics with each chapter – the lyrics generally have to do with the theme of that chapter. These lyrics express Sherman Alexie’s intent in a much more vulgar way than his story does. For instance, chapter 4 begins with the lyrics titled “Father and Further” (Alexie, 93). The lyrics describe in detail the struggle of son and father “Sometimes, father, you and I / are like a three-legged horse / who can’t get across the finish line / no matter how hard he tries and tries and tries” (93). The story, however, more subtly notes that Thomas Buildsthefire’s (the storytelling hero of this novel) relationship with his father is almost non-existent. When the band finds his father drunken and lying on Thomas’ doorstep, they all ask each other whose father it is – this speaks volumes of the stereotypical relationships of modern Native Americans and their parents (mostly because the other band mates know their own fathers are actually dead or miles upon miles away).

Another important element to consider in Alexie’s novel is that of his character’s names. Thomas Buildsthefire’s name refers to his storytelling antics and how these stories, in short, keep the “fire” of Native American culture burning. Victor Joseph’s (bass player of Coyote Springs, the band) last name could refer to Joseph of the New Testament – a man sold to slavery who later rose to power and then saved men of Israel when there was a famine. Victor could easily mirror this character in that he was somewhat sold into the slavery of the “white men” because he is the only band member with a job. Later though, he quits his job in order to rise to his musical power – however, in his issue with failing to entertain the white record men, he ultimately fails as Joseph and commits suicide because of his failure and lack of belief. Lastly, “the-man-who-was-probably-lakota” (who has no other name than this in the book) represents the white think and grouping of all native culture, though each tribe has never ending differences.

Another important element that Alexie addresses is that of food. On the reservation, the government supplied food all sounds horrible. Not once are the characters seen eating anything fresh or anything healthy. They are constantly sharing Pepsi’s and chips or candy bars. At one point, it is mentioned that the characters’ only protein is taken from jars of peanut butter. They hardly ever have money for food in the first place, and that which is supplied to them is all unhealthy.

Alexie explores the nature of Native American life in modern time. He clearly touches on most issues happening today and even offers evidence of the difficult experience of getting out of the reservation rut. In the end, three of his characters drive off of the reservation with support of their fellow man, but there is never a garuntee. Reservation Blues is a must read because of its enjoyable story and enlightening elements of culture in the United States today.

Alexie, Sherman. Reservation Blues. New York: Grove Press, 1995. Print.

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Sep 24, 2011 Libyrinths rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some American Indians on a Washington reservation, 20ish in age, decide to start a rock band. Well, not exactly. Perhaps a demonic guitar possesses them and causes them to do that. Or perhaps a timeless old woman who lives on the mountain impels them. She's been doing that sort of thing for several hundred years.

Whatever the case, Alexie, with injections of scampish humor, depicts the lives, desires, sorrows and mores of these young people and their milieu as they try to define themselves. They...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Evanston Public Library added it

Shelves: fiction

In Sherman Alexie’s RESERVATION BLUES, dreams, nightmares, and the blues intertwine as we witness the rise and fall of Coyote Springs, an all-Indian rock band from the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. Zany comedy is scattered throughout—even in the darkest of times. Alexie paints a vivid picture of Indian life on the res with a taste of commodity applesauce and powdered milk, run-ins with Tribal cops, transactions at the Trading Post, a fling with the Catholic priest, and the soun...more

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Apr 05, 2011 John Bowles rated it 4 of 5 stars

Renowned Native American poet and author Sherman Alexie had only penned one novel prior to Reservation Blues. His first novel, Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven, is a collection of short stories centered on the lives of various Native Americans on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Although unknown at the time, many of the themes, ideals and characters from Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven would serve as the foundation for Alexie’s finest novel, Reservation Blues.
Reservat...more Renowned Native American poet and author Sherman Alexie had only penned one novel prior to Reservation Blues. His first novel, Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven, is a collection of short stories centered on the lives of various Native Americans on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Although unknown at the time, many of the themes, ideals and characters from Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven would serve as the foundation for Alexie’s finest novel, Reservation Blues.
Reservation Blues is about three Native American men whose lives go on a strange journey after meeting a wanderer with a magical guitar. The main character in the novel is Thomas Builds-the-Fire, a man who’s lived on the Spokane Indian Reservation all his life. He is the reservation’s story teller, despite being very insecure. Thomas Builds-the-Fire is also constantly mocked and beat up by some of the other men on the reservation. The second main character in the novel is Victor Joseph. Victor is the primary tormentor of Thomas Builds-the-Fire. His anger consumes him, often being his defining characteristic. Other characters in the novel include Junior Polatkin, who is Victor’s sidekick, and the Warm Water sisters.
The story begins by following a drifter named Richard Johnson. While wandering, Richard passes through the Spokane Indian Reservation. Thomas Builds-the-Fire offers him a ride and learns that Richard Johnson has a guitar but does not wish to play it ever again. Richard asks Thomas Build-the-Fire to drop him off at Big Mom’s place, the reservation’s spiritual guru. Once back in town, Thomas Build-the-Fire notices Richard’ left his guitar in the van. Before Thomas can take the guitar back to its rightful owner, he is attacked by Victor Joseph. After being punched to the ground, Thomas Builds-the-Fire helplessly watches Victor destroy Richard’s guitar. After gathering up all the broken guitar pieces, Thomas decides to burn the remains. Before Thomas could start a fire he notices that the guitar has magically repaired itself. Shocking him further, the guitar begins to speak and tells Thomas to start a band with Victor. Victor and Junior agree to start a band with Thomas, primarily out of boredom. They decide to name the group Coyote Springs.
Sherman Alexie tells this story using a lot of different mediums; including, dreams, songs, journals and using many character’s points of view. At times the different types of methods used can be a bit overwhelming, but overall, Alexie pulls it off. The novel explores a lot of different themes ranging from music, spirituality, gender roles and cultural assimilation. Also, magic realism is used throughout the novel.
As a Native American, Alexie was able to effectively paint a painful picture of what it means to be a Native American living on the Spokane Reservation. He shows us the rage and alcoholism with Victor Joseph. He shows us the insecurity and identity confusion of Thomas. He shows the spirituality and the desperation to hold on to the past with Big Mom. Reservation Blues is a great novel but I would not recommend it for everyone. For those in search of a fast, fun read, look elsewhere. This book is best suited for deep thinkers and those with a high threshold for depressing literature.
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Jul 02, 2010 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

As my friend Karen said yesterday, Sherman Alexie has the ability to make you laugh and cry in the same sentence. I love how he touches on the irony of a situation that drives it deep into the loneliest part of your being instead of just staying cliched and clever on the surface.
I love how Alexie weaves between various stories seamlessly and how the mythology and the reality of Native Americans blurs hazily together. Somehow this makes the reality starker and the mythology even more wistful. I a...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Silvia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-indigenous

I'm a white woman in social work, new to Manitoba, learning to be an Indigenous ally. I'm interested in books like Reservation Blues that are written from an insider perspective. Too often, Indian experience, culture and spirituality have been appropriated by white people and filtered through white perspectives (e.g., Avatar). So that was the first reason I chose to read this book.

It's impossible not to get drawn into a relationship with the main character, storyteller Thomas Builds-the-Fire. He...more

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Dec 29, 2009 Dia rated it 3 of 5 stars

In this book, usually in just a couple lines of dialogue which feel rather casually written, Alexie touches on just about every dilemma, burden, and pain that a contemporary reservation Indian might experience. The undermining of any sort of movement toward an uplifted life is historical and current, from within Indians' minds and within Indians' communities, as well as from without. Clearly there are many ways Indians can fail, but are there any distinctly Indian ways to succeed? It almost seem...more

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Jul 23, 2009 Bullcitytaheel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: other-cultures, fiction

Not sure how to rate this - I didn't "enjoy" it 4-stars worth, but I think it was interesting and could generate considerable thought and discussion (maybe 5 stars worth!). I was prompted to read this contemporary book when I found it on my son's AP English IV summer reading choices, listed amongst heavy-hitting classics such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Like some other Native American works I have read, I found it a little meandering and heavy on some supernatural aspects that I wasn't s...more

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Nov 11, 2010 Lisa M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I recently read a collection of Alexie's short fiction and really enjoyed it. I picked up this book thinking it was some of his short fiction, too. Obviously, I was mistaken.

This novel was extremely complex. Alexie has the power to take multiple contemporary issues and weave them together in his work. Specfically, Reservation Blues is about contemporary Indian life, music, and the history of Indians. As always, Alexie also threw some basketball into the mix. (I am not a fan of sports and althou...more

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Aug 18, 2009 Irene rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Americans

Recommended to Irene by: Picked it up after "Lone Ranger and Tonto"

Shelves: fiction

I was pleased to find that Reservation Blues delves deeper into the lives of some of my favorite characters from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. The writing style is similar. It is still fantastical, but less so, and that actually makes it more approachable, in my opinion.

I think the big idea of this book can be summarized by this excerpt (from page 217 of my copy):

"They sort of felt like baby turtles left to crawl from birth nest to ocean all by themselves, while predators of al...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Rich rated it 3 of 5 stars

I like Sherman Alexie. He's quite funny and is one of the few writers I know of who writes about Indians (American Indians, that is) as contemporary people with all the good, bad, and ugly that implies. Too many others, and far too many people, seem to treat Indians as symbols of lost innocence or immense wisdom or noble savages or what have you, something that Alexie likes to mock in this and other writings. The story here is of a group of young men on the Spokane Indian Reservation who form a...more

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Oct 17, 2010 kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are some moments in the course of being a "reader" in which a particular book or author provides some previously unattained clarity about what makes literature. In this vein, I'd say Salinger taught me once and for all what tone can do - and I'd say Alexie does the same for figurative language. Needless to say, I certainly thought I had a firm grasp on both of these things beforehand, but these authors provided something I couldn't have known I was missing before reading them.

Alexie's nove...more

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May 02, 2009 Sherry (sethurner) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, humor, sci-fi-fantasy-horror

"In the one hundred and eleven years since the creation of the Spokane Indian Reservation in 1881, not one person, Indian or otherwise, has ever arrived there by accident."

At the beginning of Reservation Blues, Simon, an Indian who only drives backward (?!), notices a black man with a guitar by the side of the road. Is he lost? The solitary man turns out to be blues legend Robert Johnson, who acquired his prodigious musical talent through a deal with the devil. In the course of the story the cur...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, native-american, contemporary

I think the best way to start a review of this book is to give you the description off the back cover of the edition I read:

"In the 111-year life of the Spokane Indian reservation, not one person has arrived by accident--not until the day the black stranger appears with nothing more than the suit he wears and the guitar slung over his back. The man happens to be the legendary blues man Robert Johnson, in flight from the devil and presumed long dead. And when he passes his enchanted instrument to...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Michael Heneghan rated it 2 of 5 stars

I had really enjoyed my first Alexie book, "The Absolutely True...", so I was eager to read another. Alexie certainly sticks to what he knows: humor and Indians (he never once uses the term "Native Americans", which is consistent with other books I've read by American Indian authors. Too PC for them? I'm not sure.)

This book had many more fantastical, spiritual elements than the other, including devilish guitars, magical shamen, and prophetic dreaming. It was distracting at first, as the point of...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Laura (booksnob) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, book-club, literature

Reservation Blues takes place on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. Three young men with nothing better to do form a band called Coyote Springs and begin to feel the pride and pain of success. One plays an enchanted guitar and with virtually no experience this band takes off. Later two women join the band and so begins their mystical, rock n' roll odyssey as they travel wide and far in their blue van from bar to bar.

Every chapter begins with a song, lyrics included, and you can downl...more

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Jul 03, 2007 Nathan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like a damn good read

Shelves: lies, the-west

This is what "Flight" could be; this is what Sherman Alexie is capable of: funny, honest, uncontrived, unstupid writing about Indians in the Northwest. Brilliant stuff. A little bit of what I guess is the Native American version of magical realism, but not like the time travel (hokey!) involved in "Flight." I consider the latter to be an aberration. He's way better than that.

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Apr 06, 2009 Rosemarie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub-books

3/20 Currently reading for my book club.

4/6 I will admit it, I did not want to read this book. Of all the book club choices, this was somewhere in last place. So it was hard for me to get into and my strategy was to read it in conjunction with another book -- if I wanted to read chapter 2 of my other book, I had to read chapter 2 of Reservation Blues.

However, somewhere in the middle of RB, I found myself not needing to read my other book as a pacer. I would get to the end of a chapter and want...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Jeremiah rated it 5 of 5 stars

What makes Sherman Alexie so wonderful to read, is that he able to tell a story, that no one could. Where else have you read an account of a modern Native American in today's society, in today's culture. It is a unique blend of world's that at times do seem unreal. But for some of us, it is everyday life.

It nice that he is some close to the reality of today's Native American. I am Native American, and I am not talking about my great great grandmother was Cherokee, no I am 98% pure Omaha Indian....more

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About Sherman Alexie

Sherman J. Alexie, Jr., was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane, WA. Alexie has published 18 books to date.
Alexie is an award-winning and prolific author and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a modern Native American. Sherman's best known works in...more

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Books by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

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Quotes from Reservation Blues

“Is God a man or a woman?
God could be an armadillo. I have no idea.” — 11 people liked it

“Everybody likes to have a place to think, to meditate, to eat a burrito...” — 7 people liked it

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