false 6159 7 <div>Winner of the American Book Award and a critically acclaimed national best seller, <i>Reservation Blues</i> continues to find new and adoring readers in academic and popular circles alike. In 1931, Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil, receiving legendary blues skills in return. He went on to record only twenty-nine songs before being murdered on August 16, 1938. In 1992, however, Johnson suddenly reappears on the Spokane Indian Reservation and meets Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the misfit storyteller of the Spokane Tribe. When Johnson passes his enchanted instrument to Thomas &#8212; lead singer of the rock-and-roll band Coyote Springs &#8212; a magical odyssey begins that will take the band from reservation bars to small-town taverns, from the cement trails of Seattle to the concrete canyons of Manhattan. Sherman Alexie imaginatively mixes narrative, newspaper excerpts, songs, journal entries, visions, radio interviews, and dreams to explore the effects of Christianity on Native Americans in the late twentieth century. In addition, he examines the impact of cultural assimilation on the relationships between Indian women and Indian men. <i>Reservation Blues</i> is a painful, humorous, and ultimately redemptive symphony about God and indifference, faith and alcoholism, family and hunger, sex and death.</div> 1781 1995 Reservation Blues total:2280|5:618|4:1023|3:530|2:92|1:17| 2280 8973 3012 231 3 1 false true Sun Mar 02 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 16:03:01 -0800 2008 Thu Apr 03 15:38:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 1997 Fri Jul 25 12:22:46 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 12:43:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri May 25 20:27:33 -0700 2007 Fri May 25 20:42:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 08:12:38 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 12:00:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 19:03:47 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 16:57:57 -0700 2009 1 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.

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At the beginning of Reservation Blues, Simon, an Indian who only drives backward (?!), notices a black man...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 20:46:33 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 03 09:56:09 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 11:41:54 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 07:32:44 -0700 2009
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 chapt...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu May 31 22:31:34 -0700 2007 Thu May 31 22:34:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 09:04:17 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 07:39:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 09:29:45 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 18:34:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Feb 11 19:25:01 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 19:31:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 05:54:27 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 06:05:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 11:34:48 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 00:50:43 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Fri Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 17:35:44 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 13:36:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 21:34:43 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 21:58:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 17:39:42 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 17:43:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 20 05:50:54 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 05:58:27 -0700 2009
Richly-developed characters, worthy insights into contemporary Native American culture, poetic presentation. Loved it!

Words of Wisdom: "Victor," Big Mom said, "you should forgive that priest who hurt you when you were little. That will give you powe...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jul 12 21:38:48 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 10:05:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 26 08:04:06 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 08:24:43 -0700 2009
This book's about the growth of a band of reservation Indians. It's also about God, belief, and music. Because it's Alexie, it's about Indians, alcoholism, the white man's view o...more...]]>