English language
Published June 5, 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf.
There There is the first novel by Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange. Published in 2018, the book follows a large cast of Native Americans living in the Oakland, California area and contains several essays on Native American history and identity. The characters struggle with a wide array of challenges, ranging from depression and alcoholism, to unemployment, fetal alcohol syndrome, and the challenges of living with an "ambiguously nonwhite" ethnic identity in the United States. All of the characters unite at a community pow wow and its attempted robbery. The book explores the themes of Native peoples living in urban spaces (Urban Indians), and issues of ambivalence and complexity related to Natives' struggles with identity and authenticity. There There was favorably received, and was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. The book was also awarded a Gold Medal for First Fiction by the California Book Awards.
There There is the first novel by Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange. Published in 2018, the book follows a large cast of Native Americans living in the Oakland, California area and contains several essays on Native American history and identity. The characters struggle with a wide array of challenges, ranging from depression and alcoholism, to unemployment, fetal alcohol syndrome, and the challenges of living with an "ambiguously nonwhite" ethnic identity in the United States. All of the characters unite at a community pow wow and its attempted robbery. The book explores the themes of Native peoples living in urban spaces (Urban Indians), and issues of ambivalence and complexity related to Natives' struggles with identity and authenticity. There There was favorably received, and was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. The book was also awarded a Gold Medal for First Fiction by the California Book Awards.
The last part of this book is so good, I had to stop reading after each chapter to process. A remarkable book, and definitely one of the best of 2018.
Okay, so I think that what happened, after 80% of the book is spent bringing all these unknowingly connected people together, is that the bad guys die and the characters who have just rediscovered each other all survive. But it’s not clear. And we don’t see them working out that, in fact, they’re nearly all close relatives. Still, the many stories are intricately woven together and the build up is quite well done even if the ending comes too quickly and without obvious resolution. Although I suppose in a shooting that’s exactly what the chaos and confusion would be like. In any case, if the point of the book is to introduce the concept of modern urban Indians as real people whose daily lives are inextricably connected to their larger history, on that level it was entirely successful.
