Blurb

[Ruby]

Just can't get past that blurb. "White" isn't an ethnicity.

[Mosca]

Yes that is indeed an ignorant statement, also made on the end flap of the hardback.

Louise Erdrich is herself mixed blood background, and describes herself as Objibwe/German. She is very aware of the polarized usage of racial "simplifications"; and does not use them in her writing.

But apparently publishers and blurb writers are not. Big city ignorance.

I live in a very, very mixed ethnicity region with numerous Native American tribes and identities, along with Anglos and Hispanics. "White" is a term rarely used around here except as a joke.

[Ruby]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees it that way. The term "white" is used a lot in my line of work with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities, and in that context I don't mind it (it does sound less pretentious than "non-Indigenous", which is the PC term). But the way it's used here just seems ignorant. "Part Ojibwe - part white" in particular.

[Mosca]

"White" around here in Northern New Mexico can get you in a lot of trouble, because there are significant cultural and language differences between the traditional Hispanic communities (400 years old) and the "newer" "Anglo" community (175 years old and less). Anglos are what the rest of planet earth thinks of when they say "Americans"; but that word is ill-advised around here because everyone is American here. And "Anglos" better not use the word "White" when describing themselves, because Hispanics know that they are also "White"; and correctly take offense.

In the book The Plague of Doves, there are Ojibwe and Lakoda (Indigenous), Metis and Michif (mixed variations), Norwegians, Germans, and French. All this occurs near the US/Canada border. So the variations of humanity are complex and historically adversarial at times.

Louise Erdrich is native to the region, and is herself a unique mix. She keeps it all clear, does not stereotype, and keeps the reader clear.

But the publisher and the marketers are not so savvy, nor do they seem to care. In fact they are ignorant--a global disease.

But this book is a good one, as are all of the Louise Erdrich books I have read.

[David]

She reminds me so much of Sherwood Anderson. Her writing is usually a collection of short stories loosely tied to a theme or significant event. I'm still trying to track down that butcher shop (If the building is still there) her grandfather owned. I live in Little Falls, where she was born.

[Mosca]

Good to hear from a resident of that region, David. I've never been to North Dakota. The closest to the region I've been is Minneapolis/St. Paul. Yes, I know it's not the same.

Louise Erdrich openly admits a strong admiration for William Faulkner. Like Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County (loosely based upon Lafayette County, Mississippi), Louise Erdrich's fictional Ojibwe reservation (loosely based upon her own Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation) is inhabited by many, many interrelated cousins and neighbors. The fictional population is explored and enriched as new books are written. As are familiar characters re-introduced.

I read Sherwood Anderson more than 40 years ago; and admired him much then. I hadn't seen the connection until you mentioned it. Nice.

[David]

She owns a book store in Minneapolis. I imagine she lives there now, but I suppose she could hire somebody to run it. Garrison Keillor also owns one. Our local one, in Little Falls, just bit the dust. She couldn't compete with Amazon anymore. I love Amazon; they're so fast, and they have everything. I've been doing reviews for them since I first published.