What's novel about this collection of short stories is the way they explore the lived experiences of Native Americans (specifically, members of the Spokane tribe) in the modern world. Not to represent that the stories are particularly realistic - Alexie, exercising his prerogative as a writer, takes the liberty of placing his Native American characters in situations optimized to explore specific themes - but the challenges they face feel culturally and psychologically authentic.

Some of the tales deal explicitly with the struggle to integrate Native American traditions and values into the modern world, like the first story in the collection, "The Search Engine," in which a college student's pursuit of a Native American beatnik poet morphs into a modern-day vision quest. Or "Do Not Go Gentle," in which a Native American couple with a desperately ill child find comfort and healing in an extremely unusual totem. Or "Lawyer's League," in which an aspiring mixed-race lawyer weighs the extent to which he's going to need to compromise his pride in order to win the trust of an intolerant world. Or my favorite story in the collection, "What You Pawn I Will Redeem," in which a homeless Native American man goes on a quest to buy back his dignity (the stolen regalia of his grandmother, rediscovered in a pawn shop) but who is, in the end, saved by his own inherent dignity.

But others relate experiences that are more universal. For instance, in "Can I Get a Witness?" a woman who survives a terrorist explosion that forces her to confront her temptation to explode her entire life - who among us hasn't wondered what it would feel like to blow up everything we have and start over? In "The Life of Times of Estelle Walks Above", a young man struggles to accept that his mother could be both extraordinary and flawed. In "Do You Know Where I Am?" a man reflects on back on a marriage in which "contentment always ran slightly ahead of dissatisfaction". In "What Ever Happened to Frank Snake Church," a former high school basketball phenom struggles to cope with the grief of his parent's death and the gradual dissolution of his own dreams. Disappointment, frustration, grief ... themes that Alexie handles with a combination of deft storytelling, psychological integrity, and copious quantities of sarcasm, which may or may not be a Native American thing ("The two funniest tribes I've ever been around are Indians and Jews, so I guess that says something about the inherent humor of genocide" - a quote from "What I Pawn"), but is definitely an Alexie thing.

While the tales range from bitter to funny, poignant to heartbreaking, they collectively deliver an experience that feels fierce but wise (words I employ reluctantly, as skewering Native American archetypes is another Alexie specialty), dark but also hopeful. ( )

I'm still trying to figure out how to say this:

The thing I like best about short story collections (by a single author), if they're written well and compiled well, is the feeling I get, after reading each story, of comprehending an intimate secret the author needed me to understand. Poetry and novels both can (and do) knock me out, but there's something about the short story that can really get into my blood.

I am in love with this book. I couldn't get enough of it while I was reading it. It accompanied me almost everywhere I went this weekend, and when I thought maybe, for social reasons (and reducing the weight of my purse from being a lethal weapon), I should leave it at home for just a few hours, I obsessed over its absence like a phantom limb or shiny, new lover. I held it like a teddy bear going to sleep at night. I wanted to absorb it into my skin, and I feel this immense sense of guilt for refiling it back onto the bookshelf. I'd rather frame it.

Every story contains characters and situations that are tender, profane, and hilarious all at once, and each constantly evaded my expectations by achieving something far greater than anything I could have imagined. I'm not much for spoilers though I hate to not discuss every story for its brilliance, but it seems a little much to tally everything I loved about each story here. I don't recall enjoying The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven as much, but it has been several years and this experience has caused me to seriously consider rereading it.

I think you should read this book. ( )

Awesome collection of short stories.

"What You Pawn..." - If the idea of countdowns or running of out time makes you anxious, this short story might make the sweat bead on your brow just a little. The main protagonist, Jackson Jackson, spots his grandmother Agnes's stolen powwow regalia in a pawnshop window. She had lost her battle with breast cancer so the regalia is all that the grandson would have left of her...if he can get it back. The shop owner makes a deal to sell back the regalia for $1,000. There is only one problem. No one Jackson Jackson knows has $1,000. As an additional gesture of kindness, the pawnshop owner gives the grandson twenty bucks and twenty-four hours to come up with the rest of the cash. The clock is ticking, however the twenty immediately vanishes in the form of "three bottles of imagination." It might infuriate the reader but subsequently every time Jackson comes into money it is frittered away on something else. Hamburgers vomited back up. Losing lottery tickets. A cigar that will only burn away to nothing. Drinks with strangers. A round for everyone at the bar. But it is the kindness of strangers that gives our hero a break.

"the Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above" - A man looks back at his childhood to paint a picture of his mother, Estelle. As a member of the Spokane Indian tribe and a force to be reckoned with, Estelle was by turns someone to admire and someone to avoid. Sounds like practically every mother I know. She spent most of her lift as a spiritual guru to white women as she adores their culture over her own. ( )

So in writing a review for this, I should acknowledge the allegations against Alexie (which he says are correct, https://www.npr.org/2018/03/05/589909379/it-just-felt-very-wrong-sherman-alexies... and say that I believe the women who have come out with their stories. I also acknowledge the many critiques of Alexie's work surrounding alcoholism, the relationship to the reservation as a space, etc.

The stories themselves I think definitely align with those critiques of his work, which doesn't mean they're not compelling--he is a gifted storyteller (though obviously we have to consider the cost of his fame, especially over the women he's harassed,) and his voice is so strong in all the stories. I would recommend you read this and then maybe read a book by a Native woman, or several? Just use these stories as a jumping off point generally into the broader world of Native literature instead of returning again and again to Alexie. ( )