Member Reviews

• 
  • Rated 4 stars

  “After I read this book I felt like I had a moderate fever. I set it down halfway through and felt like my head was spinning. Alexie writes about the ultimate, absolute core of thought, conversation and experience. He relates concepts that are on the surface disparate in intimate, honest ways. The whole book has a dreamlike (and sometimes nightmarish) quality to it. I really loved it. I wish I could write with the same honesty, sincerity and depth found in this book. ”

  Tessa K wrote this review Saturday, October 18 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 5 stars

  “Gorgeously written and stunningly evocative, Alexie definitely lives up to his reputation of being one of the major lyrical voices of hi time (read the intro, you’ll get it…). His humor and tenderness illuminate the desperation, dependence and perseverance that exists on the Native American reservations; while his characters are vivid, their pain is identifiable to the most cloistered and sheltered reader. The humor is gracious and never biting, and the endings, while often sad, are never trite nor gratuitous. A lovely, satisfying read.”

  wurd nurd wrote this review Wednesday, October 15 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 3 stars

  “A young Native American man must make peace with the memories of his father. A father who left when his son was a little boy.
  I liked this book, but I LOVED the movie that was based on this novel.
  You have to see "Smoke Signals" starring Adam Beach. It is definitely one of my favorite movies.”

  Cheryl T wrote this review Sunday, October 12 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 5 stars

  “This book was the basis for one of my favorite movies, Smoke Signals. The book is a series of connected short stories about life on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation and how a young boy deals with his father's alcoholism and abandonment.”

  Moke wrote this review Sunday, October 5 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 4 stars

  “I could only read a couple of stories at a time, this work begs to be savoured even though it might at first seem light. It is full of dreams, dreams, dreams and rage and light and beauty and dreams.
  
  This book is definitely for the poetic at heart, the oppressed, the empathetic, the hopeless and the struggling. You don't have to be an indian to see the dance.”

  Eris wrote this review Wednesday, August 27 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 5 stars

  “I saw the movie Smoke Signals first, unaware it was based on a book. A couple of years later I read the book in a lit class and thought a lot of it sounded really familiar. It wasn't until afterwards (thank goodness) that I looked it up and made the connection. I absolutely feel in love with Sherman Alexies work when I read this book.”

  Christy D wrote this review Monday, July 21 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 4 stars

  “This is the first book of Alexie's that I ever read, and I had the misfortune to have seen the movie based on it, Smoke Signals, first. Thus I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out the relationship between the book and the movie. When I finally let that go and let the book just be itself-- a collection of short stories with some recurring characters-- I realized I had found a truly great American author. Alexie tells it like it is, the good, the bad and the ugly, and his sense of humor keeps you reading even while you are angry and heartbroken for what you are reading about.”

  Gretchen C wrote this review Monday, July 14 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 4 stars

  “Reservation life, with more than a twist or two. Good humor from Alexie, who seems to take little too seriously.”

  R. Stevan J wrote this review Friday, July 11 2008. ( reply | permalink )
• 
  • Rated 5 stars

  “I loved this book. It made me laught and cry. it has been a long time since i did read it. but when I saw the movie "Smoke Signal" I thought that hey this story seems like the same as "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven". I love Sherman Alexies sence of humor and how his way of storytelling showing the native amricans vs. white point of view of the world. I loved also his book .... Blues (cant remember the title) that I could barely let go when I had other thing that had to do.”

  Therese S wrote this review Sunday, May 25 2008. ( reply | permalink )