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Reservation Blues
by: Sherman Alexie

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780802141903
ISBN: 0802141900
Label: Grove Press
Manufacturer: Grove Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: February 07, 2005
Publisher: Grove Press
Sales Rank: 13503
Studio: Grove Press

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Winner of the American Book Award and a critically acclaimed national best seller, Reservation Blues continues to find new and adoring readers in academic and popular circles alike. In 1931, Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil, receiving legendary blues skills in return. He went on to record only twenty-nine songs before being murdered on August 16, 1938. In 1992, however, Johnson suddenly reappears on the Spokane Indian Reservation and meets Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the misfit storyteller of the Spokane Tribe. When Johnson passes his enchanted instrument to Thomas—lead singer of the rock-and-roll band Coyote Springs—a magical odyssey begins that will take the band from reservation bars to small-town taverns, from the cement trails of Seattle to the concrete canyons of Manhattan. Sherman Alexie imaginatively mixes narrative, newspaper excerpts, songs, journal entries, visions, radio interviews, and dreams to explore the effects of Christianity on Native Americans in the late twentieth century. In addition, he examines the impact of cultural assimilation on the relationships between Indian women and Indian men. Reservation Blues is a painful, humorous, and ultimately redemptive symphony about God and indifference, faith and alcoholism, family and hunger, sex and death.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Reservation Blues Review For Class Reading
Reservation Blues was a moving and historical book that used humor along with great stories and tales told by the characters. In this story it tells about the life of Native American's life on the reservation and the frustrations and complications they went through in everyday life. Although the book start out slow with the visuals and setting up the story line it starts to unfold into a more moving and interesting story. It tells about family, struggles, alcoholism, and other things that conflict with leading happy and fulfilling lives on the reservations. These were interesting facts to learn about but after a while the story became predictable and didn't leave much to the imagination.

By Sarah and Anna

Rating:

- A Half-baked Potatoe
Reservation Blues is basically a book written to stereotype Native Americans. If you respect Native American culture, this is probably not the book for you. It stereotypes a race of people more than any other book I have ever read, and because the author, Sherman Alexie, is a Native American, it makes the stereotypes even more believable. This is not to say that it is a bad book. In fact, it is quite a good book with a distinct, original, and refreshing voice filled with tongue-in-cheek humor. As far as the story goes, it is a good story with believable characters that are easy to connect with. The problem though is that it never reaches a climax. It goes up and up but falls short of any real climax point. The ending is unfulfilling with the struggles of the characters never finding a true resolution. The story ultimately leaves the reader with a half-baked feeling. Reservation Blues isn't a must read, ... Read More

Rating:

- a fine fable of redemption
Written by Sherman Alexie, this fable about the hometown challenges of his own home town, makes a fine, sensitive novel.

This is the struggle of an Indian band - and it's this double entendre that is at the heart of his tale. Three Spokane Indians and two Flathead sisters form a musical group, which, in its character and pathologies, are a metaphor for Indians everywhere.

The band comprises two sisters, two lifelong friends, and a misfit. The sisters, Checkers and Chess Warm Water, members of the Flathead tribe, wrestle with the corruption of family. The friends, Victor and Junior, are brutalized by alcohol, crushed dreams, and aimlessness. Thomas Builds-the-Fire, a creative and sensitive man, suffers the terrifying indifference of his people. Driven by their individual ambitions, each makes their own deal with the devil in exchange for the promise of a better life.

Among ... Read More

Rating:

- Music and Salvation
The use of music as a means to institute change in a lost society is a thematic element central to both plot and character development in Sherman Alexie's novel, Reservation Blues. The characters face a variety of complex decisions while at a crossroad in their lives. Discerning the often-blurry line between need and greed is vital for the young men and women to achieve personal success. As Native Americans, they must reject the skewed value system that prevents their brothers from rising out of a life of degradation. They must overcome hardships that accompany their ethnicity and embrace native tradition in order to spread the word of truth to others in need of salvation. Music and storytelling are tools for the protagonist to raise awareness in a society drowning in the evils of materialism.

As lead singer for the popular new age band, Coyote Springs, Thomas Builds-the-Fire must foster cohesion among ... Read More

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