As a lifelong Chicago Blues musician, I’m well aware of the Robert Johnson mythology, and I found Sherman Alexie’s use of this myth in his work to be remarkably inventive and unique. I also appreciate his insight into the workings of the music industry.

I’ve never lived on a reservation but I’ve been to Pow wows in northern Wisconsin and seen the living conditions of the Indigenous population there. Mr Alexie has given us a glimpse into his people’s lives that is bleak, with a landscape that could have been created by Salvador Dali, yet there’s still humor, hope and warmth in some of the characters.

Throughout the book Alexie has peppered song lyrics, I guess they could be attributed to his heroic figure, Thomas, the lead singer of his mythic band Coyote Springs. I’d love to hear what those songs were supposed to sound like!

I found this to be compelling reading, enough that I’m planning to read more of Mr. Alexie’s work. And I’m wondering what happened to Thomas, Chess and Checkers after their move to Spokane?

A treasure of a book!

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I heard about Sherman Alexie for years before I finally picked up one of his books. Unfortunately, that book was "Flight," a short little tale that bored me in the telling and left me unimpressed. Surely, I thought, this is not the kind of writing that gave Alexie his literary stature?

I picked up "Reservation Blues" because a few of my students were reading it for an English class, and I liked the idea of being able to discuss it in our adviser meetings. From the get-go, I was pulled into the story by Alexie's prose and his talent for dialog. The idea of Robert Johnson showing up in the modern world, still carrying his guitar, kicked my ass and got me excited for something weird and different.

Johnson ends up taking a back seat early on in the story, leaving the stage open for a handful of characters who put a band together and start playing gigs on their reservation. From here, Alexie tinkers with his fictional reality, imbuing his band with talent and popularity that accrue far faster than one might expect. In between rock-and-rolling, the band members talk about their lives on the reservation, and what they might be able to make for themselves outside of it. It was these latter conversations that were my favorite part of the book, especially when the female characters talk about how difficult it has been to find a dependable man in their community. I know little about life on reservations, and the depiction that Alexie paints in this book moved and disturbed me.

I understand, now, why Alexie attracted such a large following, and why people respect his books. "Reservation Blues" is an affecting read, one that recalls the emotions it evoked whenever I think about it. I'm glad that I gave Alexie another chance.

The whole story is kinda simple. 4 people trying to make a band and then they fail. That’s it. But the whole story is not just this. Thousands of other stories are told between the lines. Stories that are filled with magic. Stories that have happened in the 19th century and stories that have happened yesterday.
I could feel the magic everywhere. I could feel the weight behind each word. I could feel the disappointment, the despair, the joy and the laughter. I could hear the music they played. The sound of the piano, the guitar and the drums. I could hear all the notes that big mom sang. And I mourned for their loss.
In a world of cruel realities a little bit of magic has to be cherished. I cherished all those little moments of magic that I felt while reading this book. Read it not just for the stories. Read it because of the magic.

Such a good read, enit?

Started with Robert Johnson showing up on the reservation, inspired the creation of Coyote Springs.

A easy read and the story is written with unique type of humor; early on, Thomas build the fire in the book made me think of an anime protagonist and I wanted to keep reading it.

Alexie brought out heavy themes in a goofy and sometimes irony way: racism, genocide “dreams”, real life obstacles, poverty that colonizer brought, identity issues, and most importantly the reservation and “outside world”, where is Native American culture headed, how can we blend the traditional Indian culture with the modern culture in a healthy way. I like to think Big Mama showed us the way with Father Arnold in the very end of the book.

It’s sad Coyote Springs did not make it big, the two white girls with “Indian in their bones” made it. It’s is not fair, but that is exactly what the author trying to tell us, enit?

I actually found this book along with many others in a trash pile on my way to work. I remember hearing a story of his once on NPR called, "What You Pawn I Redeem," which nearly brought me to tears by the end. Seriously, I actually sat in my car waiting for the story to finish. Pathetic? Yes. But it was a very dramatic reading. Anyway, I read the book, which was about a group of Indians on a reservation in Washington (I think most of his writing revolves around similar characters) who end up starting a rock band. They start to get pretty famous and some issues of marginalization and racial exploitation begin to arise as white record executives try to influence the group. (There's a lot more to it than this, but I don't feel like explaining.) There were some good characters in the book and I liked how Alexie wove Native American folklore into the story. But I didn't think it was as strong as the story I heard on the radio.

Honestly my favorite Sherman Alexie I’ve read and he’s been one of my favorites for a long time. Reservation Blues is a combination of magical realism, poetry, comedy and also one of the saddest books I’ve ever read.

I support Jim Morrison hate

I'm surely going to fumble through this review because I'm thinking and feeling so many things about this book. Written with a fearless commitment to the truth about living as a Native American today, Sherman Alexie leaves me feeling heartbroken, hopeful, and mystified. He writes about all of the demons of the past that still live within Native Americans, but attests to their survival and life through the strength of their heritage despite that pain and despite knowing that a happy ending isn't a given. I found it beautiful that Alexie reveals how Wright, Arnold, and Johnson's characters harbor those same demons as a unifying thread of mankind and our history without hiding the real issues explored in the novel. I cried for every character at one point or another, which is a remarkable feat given that some authors struggle to help you to simply connect with the protagonist by the end of a novel. This book made me ask myself a lot of questions, both about the history of the land I live on and my personal responsibility to that history- questions I've asked before, but that needed reminding. I'm excited to explore this novel with my students this year when I ask them to explore those same questions. Once again, Sherman Alexie leaves me seeing the world differently.

Not sure how to rate this - I didn't "enjoy" it 4-stars worth, but I think it was interesting and could generate considerable thought and discussion (maybe 5 stars worth!). I was prompted to read this contemporary book when I found it on my son's AP English IV summer reading choices, listed amongst heavy-hitting classics such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Like some other Native American works I have read, I found it a little meandering and heavy on some supernatural aspects that I wasn't sure what to do with - were some of the dreams real? - were some of the characters real? But, ah, this is exactly what could contribute to some good academic-literary discussions. It hits on many tragic aspects of contemporary Native American life and the history that led there- more fodder for discussions. I did not find it as humorous as the marketing on the book jacket led me to believe "scathingly funny" (??), although I did chuckle a few times. While the book does not end as tragically as some of the foreshadowing (one character keeps shouting "The end of the world is near!"), and even ends with a glimmer of hope for a few of the characters, the overall feeling I got from the book was the feeling of anger, desperation, inferiority, and hopelessness on the reservation and amongst the people. I look forward to seeing how my son reacts to the book and having a discussion with him.

یک کتاب بسیار عالی! میگن رعالیسم جادوییه، ولی خب من که نمیدونم ینی چی.
داستان درمورد یه عده سرخپوسته که بند موسیقی میزنن. اما شیوه بیان و اتفاقایی که میفته واقن نظیر نداره. مثلن یه صحنه داریم که‌گیتاره با طرف یهو دیالوگ میگه. و ازین قبیل بامزه بازی ها. که خب مثال نمیزنم دیگه ازشون چون مزه‌ش میره. اما واقعن روون و شیرین و جذابه و زمین گذاشتنش بسی سخت. اگه دنبال کتابی هستین که اسون خونده بشه، دنبال خودش بکشتون، و یخورده هم تمای فلسفی یا عمیق پس داستانش داشته باشه، این یک گزینه عالی خواهد بود!

In Sherman Alexie’s RESERVATION BLUES, dreams, nightmares, and the blues intertwine as we witness the rise and fall of Coyote Springs, an all-Indian rock band from the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. Zany comedy is scattered throughout—even in the darkest of times. Alexie paints a vivid picture of Indian life on the res with a taste of commodity applesauce and powdered milk, run-ins with Tribal cops, transactions at the Trading Post, a fling with the Catholic priest, and the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Elvis. The band starts and ends with its lead singer Thomas-Builds-the-Fire who holds his bandmates together through drunk performances, controversies involving sexual relations with white women, and even a crazy audition in New York City for Cavalry Records. Ultimately, Thomas is unable to save them all from what is haunting them, but is able to move forward toward the future hanging “tightly to the manes of those shadow horses running alongside” them. (Elvira, C-D)