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Title: The Heirs of Columbus by Gerald Vizenor ISBN: 0-8195-6249-1 Publisher: Wesleyan University Press Pub. Date: 15 July, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Remarkably Bad!
Comment: I read this book for a college lit. class. I don't even know what to say, this is a waste of paper!!
Rating: 1
Summary: What the hell?
Comment: Yea this is a good book. Yea it makes a lot of sense too.
Rating: 4
Summary: Po-Mo? Oh yeah, it's po-mo...
Comment: ... but it's also one of the most outstanding examples of Native American (American Indian, or "Indian," as Sherman Alexie calls himself) literature. Gerald Viezenor is a professor of literature at Berkeley, and his contribution to the Indian Lit scene is one of the least-known, most overlooked, and best-constructed books available in this growing field. While it hasn't shared the commercial success of Alexie's books - partly because not many people are AWARE of Viezenor's book, and partly because it is not your average "pick up and read it on the plane" sort of book - "The Heirs of Columbus' is one of the most original novels in years, Indian or otherwise.
The "action" centers around one Stone Columbus, Native American captain of the Santa Maria Casino. Every year, he and the other descendents of Columbus (who actually descended from Jewish Indians who immigrated to the 'Old' World) get together and tell tales, and what follows is the result. It would ruin the book to discuss it too much plot-wise, but it's Viezenor's constructs that really set "The Heirs of Columbus" apart.
Indian literature was the first to really mess around with notions of time, narrative, history, and place, all of which have become staples of the po-mo establishment (how's THAT for an oxymoron). Viezenor almost seems to thumb his nose at the anti-establishment that has now become the trendy establishment, tongue firmly in cheek, saying both that "we Indians thought of it FIRST" and "you don't do it RIGHT, let me show you HOW." It's a nice change of pace from the usual blah-blah that most po-mo writers seem to think anyone with a latte will lap up.
The only fault is that "Heirs of Columbus" references a LOT of things that those unfamiliar with Native American culture (indeed, most non-Indians) simply won't understand. Furthermore, Viezenor offers little to no explanation of what these things are, and almost taunts the non-Indian reader with the deluge of them. It violates one of the cardinal rules of literature - that you don't have to explain everything as you go, and that it should be, at least somewhat, universal no matter what culture the reader comes from. But that doesn't detract from the book's overall beauty and fun. If you're interested in Indian literature, "The Heirs of Columbus" is indispensable for your reading list and collection.
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Title: Tracks RI by Louise Erdrich ISBN: 0060972459 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 30 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King ISBN: 0553373684 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 July, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: From the Glittering World: A Navajo Story (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series) by Irvin Morris ISBN: 0806132426 Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles by Gerald Vizenor ISBN: 0816618526 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1990 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Hiroshima Bugi: Atomu 57 (Native Storiers: A Series of American Narratives) by Gerald Robert Vizenor ISBN: 0803246730 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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