| Books by Native American Authors |
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie
|
| The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, a compilation of short stories written by Sherman Alexi about life on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Alexie’s writing blends humor and tragedy. This latest edition, 2005, contains an added introduction by Alexie, and two additional stories, “Flight” and “Junior Polatkin’s Wild West Show.” It also contains a reading group guide at the back of the book. This book provided the basis for the movie Smoke Signals.
Sherman’s Native American Heritage and life growing up on the reservation provide the material for this book. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and his parents were of the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene tribes. His stories are loosely grounded on events that happened in his own life.
Alexie’s first published book was The Business of Fancydancing, a collection of poems and short stories, but The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven was his first major contract. In the intro he comments, “I was rich, rich, rich. Okay, to be more accurate, I was middle- class, middle-class, middle-class. But that was a huge leap. I was the first Alexie to ever become middle-class and all because I wrote stories and poems about being a poor Indian growing up in an alcoholic family on an alcoholic reservation.” The stories center on alcoholism, lack of jobs, lack of housing, basketball, but yet they still survive, and have kept their sense of humor. Some of his stories have an edge of anger, but do not attack society.
Victor, one of the main characters that appears in many of the stories that deal with alcoholism and love on the reservation. In “Because My Father Always Said He was the Only Indian who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play the “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock,” Victor relates his father’s story. Victor’s parents have divorced, and his father has moved to Phoenix. Victor misses his father and waits for him to return. The memory that is most strong to Victor is Jimi Hendrix playing the “Star Spangled Banner” because his father played it constantly. As Victor puts it, “During the sixties, my father was the perfect hippie, since all hippies were trying to be Indians. Because of that, how could anyone recognize that my father was trying to make a social statement?”
In “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore,” starts with two sober Indians sitting around the table playing Russian roulette with a BB pistol. They get bored of the game, and go out to the front porch, and reminisce about playing basketball in high school and about the current basketball stars on the reservation. They discuss whether any of the current stars will actually succeed or how quickly they will be claimed by boredom and alcohol. The story contains the following paragraph. “It’s hard to be optimistic on the reservation. When a glass sits on a table here, people don’t wonder if it’s half filled or half empty. They just hope it’s good beer. Still, Indians have a way of surviving. But it’s almost like Indians can easily survive the big stuff. Mass Murder, loss of language and land rights. It’s the small things that hurt the most. The white waitress who wouldn’t take an order, Tonto, the Washington Redskins.” This passage sums up the message of the book.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven tells the story of life on the reservation including the poverty, alcoholism, boredom, and sadness, mostly sadness for things that have been lost. But Alexie also demonstrates the ability of his people to survive, and endure hardship. His humor allows you to read these stories, and to understand the hardship of his people without leaving you crying in your beer.
BGS 4/19/2008
|
|
|