I have been reading Louise Erdrich for over a decade. She has been writing novels for over three decades. She never lets me down. The new novel, set in familiar territory, the remaining Ojibwe lands of North Dakota, is engaged in spanning: generations, cultures, the spiritual world, and the moral universe. If that sounds deep, it is but her dazzling prose and sophisticated plotting create a novel that is quite impossible to put down.
Not for the Likes of Us
Kurt moved on his belly beneath the briars that formed a rudimentary roof for the hollowed out basin of earth the two men had called home for two nights now, slithering over the lip of the hollow and following the pull of gravity through the dark to where he knew Leo would be. The movement was that of a snake’s, but Kurt knew that he could not be a snake because a snake would have been long gone by now. He thought about what other animals he could be; a loyal mastiff at best, a fuck-witted donkey at worst.
Walk-In Emergencies Welcome
I live in minefields, study dioramas
of disaster, pose in crime scenes. I pay
attention. Last night, I overheard a woman
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin is a compact nearly four hundred page collection of Berlin’s stories, published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
Articuno Lampansé
The sad thing was, the whole affair came about by chance. Malcolm had no reason to be in the Second Round Bookstore on that Thursday afternoon.
The Funeral of an Honourable Gentleman
Funerals. Among the many things I hate is attending funerals. They are by far the most sanctimonious events on earth. A time where people heaped superficial emotions, pity and tears and then settle down for a cup of tea and hot soup. No matter how much I hated attending funerals, I was obliged to attend this one. It was a necessary evil, a last respect paid to someone no matter how honourable they were in their lifetime. There was no reason whatsoever why people who lived an un-gemy life should be tagged real and rare gems in death.