My sister slept with the light on until she was 27. She rightfully blames me. I would leap out of closets with my hands made into claws. I would...
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dwrites, February 27, 2008 (view all comments by dwrites)
I have yet to read an Alexie book or short story that doesn't make me squirm, and "Indian Killer" is no exception.
Nor does it fall into the "exception" column in its fearless excellence.
Alexie writes mainly about North American Indians, and mainly about characters who are Spokane. But it would be wrong to simply dub him an "Indian author," because the mirror he holds up is for all of us. There are no saints among the white or the red. The occasional kind heart, the sympathetic character (whose sympathies surprise more often than not), but no saints.
"Indian Killer" might be shelved as a murder mystery. But there's more mystery in what goes on in the hearts and minds of the community, and the actions those mysteries spawn, than in "whodunit."
We shake our heads at the ignorant, the arrogant, and the just-plain-mean, while simultaneously recognizing ourselves in them.
In this way, "Indian Killer" -- and all Alexie fiction -- is instructive.
It is also tremendously rewarding.
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Product details
432 pages
Warner Books -
English9780446673709
Reviews:
"Review"
by John Skow, Time,
"Alexie's tale is septic with what clearly seems to be his own unappeasable fury."
"Review"
by Richard E. Nicholls, The New York Times Book Review,
"[Alexie's] vigorous prose, his haunted, surprising characters and his mediative exploration of the sources of human identity transform into a resonant tragedy what might have been a melodrama in less assured hands."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"Both a splendidly constructed and wonderfully readable thriller — and a haunting, challenging articulation of the plight and the pride of contemporary Native Americans."
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
A serial killer is stalking Seattle — taking the scalps of white males. Dubbed the "Indian Killer" by the local populace, the murderer's action have thrown the city's Native American community into turmoil. As retaliatory hate crimes against Native Americans escalate, John Smith — a Native American raised by a white family — must confront the violence in the streets — as well as in his own heart.
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