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The Rez Road Follies: Canoes, Casinos, Computers, and Birch Bark Baskets
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Author: Jim Northrup
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0816634955
Publisher: Univ of Minnesota Pr (Txt) (04 October, 1999)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 208,614
Average Customer Rating: 4.9 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 5 out of 5
Good Writing Too
I picked this book up at random while browsing the "Native American studies" shelf at my local book megastore, and I was quickly drawn in, reading it cover-to-cover in a day. Jim Northrop is an Anishinaabe who lives on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Northern Minnesota, and in this book he writes about reservation life, about Native American political issues, and about his own travels and experiences. One of the great strengths of this book is his honesty as a memoirist. While sticking largely to a humorous matter-of-fact tone, he does not shy away from his grief at his son's suicide attempt or his difficulties returning from war in Vietnam. Another strength is the conversational quality of the writing itself. At first it bugged me, short sentences put together into these meandering run-on paragraphs, but after some reading I began to think more of Italian vocal technique, where the tone continues, rising and falling, with words just dotted on the surface. Eventually it felt like I was just hanging out with the guy, listening to his interesting stories. There are times when the writing falls down, for example during an extended series of sports metaphors during a dicussion of racism, or in the rather forced series of kangaroo references when describing a tribal "kangaroo court". But despite these problems I found the writing compelling and accessible. I'm not qualified to analyze the political arguments he sometimes makes, but his perspective on treaty rights, sports mascots, and gambling will certainly stay with me, informing and broadening my thinking when I next encounter these issues in daily life.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Tremendous
This book is brutal without being harsh, funny without being lightweight. In a society where everyone (and I do mean everyone) is made to feel guilty for everone else's suffering, this is a breath of fresh air. The problems Northrup faces every day are aired alongside with the joys. For every pain, he offers a happiness.And he never says you can't understand. He just offers another way to see his life.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Just the Kind of Creative Nonfiction I Like to Read
What Northrup has to say is as interesting as the way he says it. I really loved his style of writing: chatty, wry, ironic, funny, serious--often at the same time.
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