A Reader's Guide to the Novels of Louise Erdrich

by Peter G. Beidler, Gay Barton

Divided into two main sections, the guide provides insight into the geography, genealogy, chronology, and characters of the six novels. In Part I, Beidler and Barton provide a skeletal outline of each family included in the novels. They have sorted familial relationships into genealogical charts and placed each book's most important events in chronological order. A map of Erdrich's North Dakota, both actual and fictional, is also included in this chapter.Part II, the dictionary of characters, forms the heart of the book. The dictionary includes all major and most minor players and provides, in chronological order, the events in each character's life. It also serves as an index to Erdrich's many characters by listing every chapter in the novels where each character appears. Finally, a bibliography is provided, citing the most significant critical responses to Erdrich from the past fifteen years.

Genres: Nonfiction

265 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1999

Reviews

[Celeste Trimble · Rating 5 out of 5]

There have been times when I am completely lost in the family tree of Louise Erdrich's books. This book, though older, helps enormously. It tracks which character appears where in which books and how they are related to everyone else. I wish I had one of these for real life.

[Robin]

Very thorough guide.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great help in sorting out people and places in the saga. See my review of Tracks
A vademecum for Erdrich readers. Realized hours after posting this review that I'd not mentioned the revised Guide does not cover books published after 2006, including my three favorites of the author's viz. LaRose; The Round House and The Plague of Doves. l of these I read in 2016. LaRose was the second of her books for me, several years after The Master Butchers Singing Club. I recommend LaRose to anyone as the first Erdrich book to read. Though it is her latest one and takes place quite recently, it has flashbacks that capture generations.

[Oumeima · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide has been so helpful especially since Love Medicine series is one that relies HEAVILY on characterization andthe characters in all of Erdrich's books are quite complex especially relationship wise.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a must!! Erdrich has so many great characters, but while reading her books for school, many of us got so confused, and this helped out a lot!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

So helpful in sorting out the connections between characters in Louise's wonderful novels.

[Jerry Bunin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide was a big help in understanding the first six novels Louise Erdrich wrote. It covered her novels through The Antelope Wife but not Antelope Woman, written 18 years after the original story.

It provided sections for each novel on geography, chronology, and genealogical trees that made it much easier to keep track of all the different characters, their offspring and interrelationships. It also included a dictionary of every main characters and less information on minor figures.

By being careful as a reader, it was possible to use the information as I read through the novels without spoiling upcoming plot turns.

I would say that this was a very valuable tool in seeing where the stories were going and what was happening to her characters.