Reservation Blues : A Novel

Winner of the American Book Award and the Murray Morgan Prize, Sherman Alexie's brilliant first novel tells a powerful tale of Indians, rock'n'roll, and redemptionCoyote Springs is the only all-Indian rock band in Washington State—and the entire rest of the world. Thomas Builds-the-Fire takes vocals and bass guitar, Victor Joseph hits lead guitar, and Junior Polatkin rounds off the sound on drums. Backup vocals come from sisters Chess and Checkers Warm Water. The band sings its own brand of the blues, full of poverty, pain, and loss—but also joy and laughter.It all started one day when legendary bluesman Robert Johnson showed up on the Spokane Indian Reservation with a magical guitar, leaving it on the floor of Thomas Builds-the-Fire's van after setting off to climb Wellpinit Mountain in search of Big Mom.In Reservation Blues, National Book Award winner Alexie vaults with ease from comedy to tragedy and back in a tour-de-force outing powered by a collision of cultures: Delta blues and Indian rock.This ebook features an illustrated biography including rare photos from the author's personal collection.

sherman Alexie Has Been Hailed As “one Of The Best Writers We Have” (the Nation). reservation Blues Is His “irresistibly Stunning Debut Novel” (san Francisco Chronicle). One Day Legendary Bluesman Robert Johnson Appears On The Spokane Indian Reservation, In Flight From The Devil And Presumed Long Dead. When He Passes His Enchanted Instrument To Thomas-builds-the-fire—storyteller, Misfit, And Musician—a Magical Odyssey Begins That Will Take Them From Reservation Bars To Small-town Taverns, From The Cement Trails Of Seattle To The Concrete Canyons Of Manhattan. This Is A Fresh, Luxuriantly Comic Tale Of Power, Tragedy, And Redemption Among Contemporary Native Americans.

publishers Weekly

the Characters Of Alexie's Acclaimed Short Fiction (the Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven)-thomas Builds-the-fire, Victor, Junior, The Habitus Of The Spokane Indian Reservation-return In This Superb First Novel, A Lyric Comic Tale With Magical Realist Overtones. A Stranger Arrives On The Reservation Carrying A Magic Guitar, Which He's Been Given As Part Of His Bargain With ``the Gentleman'' For Blues Immortality. Now He's Trying To Lose Guitar, Devil And Deal. Taking The Instrument Off His Hands, Thomas Soon Forms An All-indian R&b Band With Victor And Junior. The Group, Coyote Springs, Plays Small Clubs And Bars And Eventually Goes On Tour. They Even Attract Their Own Groupies-white Women Betty And Veronica And Indian Sisters Chess And Checkers Warm Water. Will They Succeed And, If They Do, Will They Lose Their Souls? Alexie, A Spokane/coeur D'alene Indian, Excels At Creating Colorful Characters, And He Fills His Narrative With Subtle And Affectionate Homages To Other Contemporary Native American Writers (jim Northrup, Thomas King Et Al.). Hilarious But Poignant, Filled With Enchantments Yet Dead-on Accurate With Regard To Modern Indian Life, This Tour De Force Will Leave Readers Wondering If Alexie Himself Hasn't Made A Deal With The Gentleman In Order To Do Everything So Well. (june)

Annotation "Many may remember the tale of Robert Johnson, the musician who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads in exchange for being the best blues guitarist around.What many may not know is that after this tragic deal in Mississippi, Johnson ended up in a small town on the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington state-at least that's how author Sherman Alexie tells it.In his new book Reservation Blues, Alxie spins the fictional tale of Johnson's adventure at a new crossroads, this one in a small town called Wellpinit, Wash. It is here that he comes to seek out Big Mom, a local medicine woman, and, in so doing, leaves his famous guitar in the hands of misfit storyteller Thomas Builds-the-Fire.Builds-the-Fire, brought back from Alexie's last book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, takes up Johnson's magical guitar and, along with Victor Joseph, Junior Polatkin and two Flathead Indian sisters named Chess and Checkers, goes on to build a reservation blues band that takes the Northwest by storm...As the band plays club after club, Alexie uses music as a crosscultural bridge, without compromising the cultural integrity of his characters. The band members seem to take on the gamut of problems faced by Indians on the reservation today, battling everything from alcoholism to violence, political corruption to sexual abuse.Ghosts from the past, both personal and historical haunt the musicians, serving both to hold them back and urge them on. It would seem that the scars of abuse run deep." (The Commercial Appeal, June 11, 1995) In 1931, Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil, receiving legendary blues skills in return. He went on to record only twenty-nine songs before being murdered on August 16, 1938. In 1992, however, Johnson suddenly appears on the Spokane Indian Reservation and meets Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the misfit storyteller of the Spokane Tribe. So begins Reservation Blues, the mythic and musical tale of Coyote Springs, an all-Indian Catholic rock-and-roll band. With Thomas Builds-the-Fire as lead singer, Victor Joseph and Junior Polatkin on lead guitar and drums, and Chess and Checkers Warm Water on vocals, Coyote Springs takes their "four-and-a-half-chord rock and blues" to reservation bars, small town taverns, and the urban landscapes of Seattle and Manhattan. Sherman Alexie brilliantly mixes narrative, newspaper excerpts, songs, journal entries, visions, radio interviews, and dreams to explore the effects of Christianity on Native Americans in the late twentieth century. More important, he examines cultural assimilation's impact on the relationship between Indian women and Indian men. Reservation Blues is a painful, humorous, and ultimately redemptive symphony about God and indifference, faith and alcoholism, family and hunger, sex and death. The life of Spokane Indian Thomas Builds-the-Fire irrevocably changes when blues legend Robert Johnson miraculously appears on his reservation and passes the misfit storyteller his enchanted guitar. Inspired by this gift, Thomas forms Coyote Springs, an all-Indian Catholic band who find themselves on a magical tour that leads from reservation bars to Seattle and New York--and deep within their own souls. One day, legendary bluesman Robert Johnson appears on the Spokane Indian reservation, in flight from the devil and presumed long dead. When he passes his enchanted instrument to Thomas Builds-the-Fire--storyteller, misfit, and musician--a magical odyssey begins that will take them from reservation bars to small-town taverns, from the cement trails of Seattle to the concrete canyons of Manhattan The rise to fame of Coyote Springs, an all-Indian rock-and-roll band, tracing its journey from a Spokane reservation all the way to New York. A humorous exploration of serious subjects: the effect of Christianity on Native Americans, cultural assimilation and its impact on relations between Indian men and Indian women. By the author of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven