Grand Avenue: A Novel in Stories

by Greg Sarris

Set in a northern California landscape of tumbledown shacks and recycled barracks, this compelling sequence of interwoven stories about a Native American community is "one of the most important imaginative books of the year" (Michael Dorris, Los Angeles Times). Soon to be an HBO miniseries. Reading tour.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Native American, Indigenous

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Gregory Michael Sarris is the Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, the Graton Rancheria Endowed Chair in Creative Writing and Native American Studies at Sonoma State University, where he teaches classes in Native American Literature, American Literature, and Creative Writing.

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first instinct is to say of this book that it's essentially Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven--but less interesting. This doesn't really do Sarris's book justice, but it is the most accurate way I can find to describe it and the way that it fits into my recent reading of Native American literature.

The details of each book are different, obviously--Sarris and Alexie develop different characters, and both authors develop complex, believable characters--but both books are novels-in-stories set on the reservation, in which the stories are told from various characters' perspectives and storytelling itself is a central theme of the text. However, where Alexie's book plays with perspective, realism, the impact of the stories, and much larger themes, Sarris's book remains fairly straightforward. Sarris tells the story of this community in a series of first person stories (with a couple of notable exceptions) in which it is always quickly clear who is telling the story and, thanks to the genealogy he provides at the beginning of the book, how this narrator is related to the other narrators of the book. Each story could stand on its own but also enhances the others that have come before and that will follow in the collection.

Ultimately, Sarris's novel-in-stories is a really excellent exploration of a particular community and its members in traditional short story format. It's good, but it doesn't match the complexity and depth of Alexie's exploration of Indian-ness and humanity through his stories and reflections.

I feel like this review makes Sarris's book sound like it's not a good one. But it really is. It is a well-written, at times really moving set of stories that happens to suffer in my experience by reading it just after having read Alexie's book. As illustrations of what Greg Sarris does really well, here are a couple of my favorite excerpts. The first is the opening of the first story, which told me that I would enjoy this book: "My name is Jasmine, but I'm no sweet-smelling flower. Names are just parents' dreams, after all" (3).

The second comes from "Joy Ride," in the middle of the book: "You dream and plan, plan and dream--and then there's life, the everyday way of the world. It's like ivy. It looks pretty at first, the way it climbs a tree. Then it takes the life right out of the tree, strangles it. You have your firstborn and it's the most beautiful thing you know, so beautiful you decide to have the second one, which you didn't plan for, even though you can hardly afford the first. Then the third and fourth appear, but it's all right because your mother-in-law moves in and helps with her social security check. You open your eyes and realize you're too far under water and haven't taken a breath of air for some time. You learn to live without breathing" (114).

It is this kind of beauty that makes Sarris's book worth reading.

[Greg Burrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories are gritty, tough to read, very human, and all too real. This is a collection of short stories all stemming from an extended family in a specific place (Santa Rosa). The stories add to each other but don't form a linear narrative, some readers might find that off-putting. Taken as a whole they paint a stark but rewarding and moving picture. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd recommend this to non-Natives because it doesn't portray Native Americans in the most flattering light. Yes, there is a lot of darkness and some scenes are hard to read but these stories are real portrayals of marginalized people who were robbed of land, community, family, culture, history, and hope. I found the way the first and last story wrap this collection to be very moving. It's not so much a series of stories as it is one tragic tale told in a disjointed fashion. A tough read but worth the journey.

[Dave Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I was teaching English Literature, I would include his short story "The Indian Maid" (second last one in the book). It's brilliantly told and writers like me should admire the construction of the prose. I started it over a year ago and just finished it because I went to see author Greg Sarris at Book Passage in Corte Madera. I may have to reread it to get a more current overview of the whole "story."

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I with this book had had less characters - it was often quite confusing who was related to whom and how! This book also starts and ends strong but drags a little in the middle (or maybe those were the stories I was just more confused about).

Stories I particularly enjoyed:
The Magic Pony
The Progress of this Disease
How I Got to be Queen
The Indian Maid
The Water Place

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required Reading for California Ethnic Literature, Spring 2010

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a series of fictitious short stories, all following a different member of this large and highly convoluted family. I like that concept and of course in any collection, some stories are going to be better than others. So I think 3 stars is a good average. Some were highly engaging and some I could barely even understand what was going on. Despite the family tree at the beginning I quickly gave up on trying to focus on how each character was related.

Talk. about. misery. soup. Every bite is sour and unpleasant and yet I kept hoping that the next one would be different. It's a novel in poverty and jealousy and human situations that are probably grounded in more reality than I would want to think about. These stories were not made for me but I read them anyways. It's not graphic, it doesn't go into detail, but the misery soaks through the pages until all of it has a vaguely unpleasant feel.

The reading guide at the end is very interesting and provides a lot of context both on the historical end and on the author's perspective. And yes, it is so important to read indigenous stories (set in the modern day) written by indigenous authors. I am sure this book is extremely dated now, 30 years later, but maybe that is part of the charm.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

difficult book to read about lives that most of us will never understand. we will never understand poverty, social injustices, or cultural differences represented in these stories. it was also hard to tie characters together through the different generations.

[Jaimie McGovern · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was very well written, but the content was difficult to get through. Includes pedophilia, sexual abuse, and fatal illness, among other issues.

[Vincent Mollica]

❤️

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ben Rosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooooo good! Loved the interwoven story structure. Reminded me some of "There There" by Tommy Orange, although this one is less plot driven, and instead creates a deep tapestry of a Native community in the North Bay.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just okay. I didn't really find myself caring about any of the characters or stories. It's like what another reviewer said: It's a lot like Sherman Alexie... but not as good. And I'm not even that much of a Sherman Alexie fan.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great look at the modern native american experience in America. Highly recommended collection of short stories.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. Short stories that intertwine with each other. I thought it a very masterful, creative idea to make the stories connect to make a novel.

[ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

reminiscent of sherman alexie.

[Michal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice use of integrating multiple stories and metaphors.

[Iain Coggins]

Still haven't gotten to reading it after all these years. Written by an author from my hometown (Santa Rosa, California),and set there.

[Tiffany Sanasie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very confusing. Too many characters. Chapters were random and hardly connected.

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the November/December 2015 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...