The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
by Sherman Alexie
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sherman AlexieEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-02-08
ISBN: 0802141676
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Grove Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780802141675
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
Book Review: That's How I Do Life Sometimes By Making The Ordinary Just Like Magic... -Sherman Alexie
Summary: 5 Stars
Halfway through this book I emailed the friend that bought it for me to tell him how much I was loving it. I then asked him "How the hell am I supposed to review this?" His reply was to explain that "He needs a new star, a category for 'Holy Sh!t, that one hit me hard.' But they don't make the Holy Sh!t category on Amazon." That pretty much says it all.
The truth is I was blown away by Sherman Alexie somewhere after the first paragraph of the introduction to this book. In the intro he presents himself in a manner that is completely honest and straightforward. He had me laughing from the start, and I can and do appreciate someone who can make fun of themselves. But through his introduction and throughout all the stories in this book, one word ran through my head continuously; brilliant.
I am not going to give any sort of plot summary because it's simply impossible. What I will do is give you the titles to a few of my favorites and if that doesn't entice you to want to read on, nothing will. This book contains 24 short on length but not on content, stories. Each story is unique, yet there is always a sense of familiarity, whether it's the presence of a familiar character, a diet Pepsi, fry bread or a basketball game. Each story is its own theme, place and time, but always about Mr. Alexie's Spokane Indian people and the reservation.
My favorites:
The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire
Jesus Christ's Half-Brother is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation
A Train is an Order of Occurrence
The Approximate Size of my Favorite Tumor
In his introduction he states that these stories contain some truths, but explains it as "reservation realism" and challenges us to figure out what exactly that means. My interpretation is that all these stories contain little threads of truth, some more than others, and with these little threads he weaves and enhances creating a blanket of fantasy and fiction. Whether I am right or wrong, I have to believ each tale is based on some truth, they were just too real to me to be otherwise.
I think I experienced every human emotion while reading this book, and then experienced them all over again. Some stories are horribly sad and gut wrenching, others are lighthearted and funny and mischievous; most are all of the above and then some. The one thing I am left with after reading this book is that Sherman Alexie conveys more in a short 5 page story than most writers manage to say in a full 300 page novel; that's an exquisite gift. I am grateful to my friend, eternally, for gifting me with this book and introducing me to this writer. I can't recommend this book enough, it's a treasure I will read and read and then read some more.
One Stick Song
Cherise Everhard, February 2008
Summary of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
When it was first published in 1993, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven established Sherman Alexie as a stunning new talent of American letters. The basis for the award-winning movie Smoke Signals, it remains one of his most beloved and widely praised books. In this darkly comic collection, Alexie brilliantly weaves memory, fantasy, and stark realism to paint a complex, grimly ironic portrait of life in and around the Spokane Indian Reservation. These twenty-two interlinked tales are narrated by characters raised on humiliation and government-issue cheese, and yet are filled with passion and affection, myth and dream. Against a backdrop of alcohol, car accidents, laughter, and basketball, Alexie depicts the distances between Indians and whites, reservation Indians and urban Indians, men and women, and, most poetically, modern Indians and the traditions of the past.Short Stories Books
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