Product Description
With wry humor, gentle candor, and an eye for the telling detail, Jim Northrup, gifted poet, journalist, and storyteller, invites readers to explore the world of today's Anishinaabe, or Ojibway, people and offers droll commentary on his encounters with the "immigrant communities" (his term for Caucasian Americans).

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 10 reviews)

Good Writing Too

I picked this book up at random while browsing the "Native American studies" shelf at my local book megastore, and I was quickly drawn in, reading it cover-to-cover in a day. Jim Northrop is an Anishinaabe who lives on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Northern Minnesota, and in this book he writes about reservation life, about Native American political issues, and about his own travels and experiences. One of the great strengths of this book is his honesty as a memoirist. While sticking largely to a humorous matter-of-fact tone, he does not shy away from his grief at his son's suicide attempt or his difficulties returning from war in Vietnam. Another strength is the conversational quality of the writing itself. At first it bugged me, short sentences put together into these meandering run-on paragraphs, but after some reading I began to think more of Italian vocal technique, where the tone continues, rising and falling, with words just dotted on the surface. Eventually it felt like I was just hanging out with the guy, listening to his interesting stories. There are times when the writing falls down, for example during an extended series of sports metaphors during a dicussion of racism, or in the rather forced series of kangaroo references when describing a tribal "kangaroo court". But despite these problems I found the writing compelling and accessible. I'm not qualified to analyze the political arguments he sometimes makes, but his perspective on treaty rights, sports mascots, and gambling will certainly stay with me, informing and broadening my thinking when I next encounter these issues in daily life.
January 02, 2003

Tremendous

This book is brutal without being harsh, funny without being lightweight. In a society where everyone (and I do mean everyone) is made to feel guilty for everone else's suffering, this is a breath of fresh air. The problems Northrup faces every day are aired alongside with the joys. For every pain, he offers a happiness.

And he never says you can't understand. He just offers another way to see his life.
January 17, 2002

Just the Kind of Creative Nonfiction I Like to Read

What Northrup has to say is as interesting as the way he says it. I really loved his style of writing: chatty, wry, ironic, funny, serious--often at the same time.
August 08, 2001

A Crash Course on Contemporary Indian Identity

Don't buy Ian Frazier's book if you want any kind of accurate picture of today's Indians. Buy this one instead - this is the book to get if you want to begin to understand the complexities of being an Indian. The author speaks to both the initiated and the ignorant. It's both a moving and a fun read.
October 12, 2000

a blast!

I am so happy that he won the 1999 native american journalism award for his editorials, which appear in indian country today , news from inidan country and the circle. this book is wonderful and very funny! the poem he writes about John Wayne visitng Vietnam is a masterpiece and shows " the Duke" for what he really is a wimp and a wuz! get this book it's truly a gem!
June 04, 2000

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Walking the Rez Road (History & Heritage)
by Jim Northrup

Tracks
by Louise Erdrich

Lies to Live by
by Lois Beardslee

Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society)
by Ignatia Broker
by Steven Premo

Mean Spirit
by Linda Hogan