Review of "Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Hard to figure out, categorize, or rate. Ostensibly a memoir of the titular Lissa Yellow Bird — a truly memorable, fascinating, haunting and haunted character — the book is both much more and somewhat less: the Oil Curse; Native American sovereignty and resiliency despite the centuries-long abuses of the U.S. government; corruption; obsession; the power of relationships; and of course murder most foul. Murdoch treated these all as co-themes, not side ones, lending them equal weight, each one captivating but overall a little too choppy for me: I found it hard to track the broader picture.
Memorable, though: I finished the book feeling admiration for Yellow Bird, her family, and even the (outsider) author. I do wish the author had placed the Author's Note, or crucial parts of it, as a foreword instead of at the end — but I'm not sure how that could be done. So I'll just …
Hard to figure out, categorize, or rate. Ostensibly a memoir of the titular Lissa Yellow Bird — a truly memorable, fascinating, haunting and haunted character — the book is both much more and somewhat less: the Oil Curse; Native American sovereignty and resiliency despite the centuries-long abuses of the U.S. government; corruption; obsession; the power of relationships; and of course murder most foul. Murdoch treated these all as co-themes, not side ones, lending them equal weight, each one captivating but overall a little too choppy for me: I found it hard to track the broader picture.
Memorable, though: I finished the book feeling admiration for Yellow Bird, her family, and even the (outsider) author. I do wish the author had placed the Author's Note, or crucial parts of it, as a foreword instead of at the end — but I'm not sure how that could be done. So I'll just offer a heads-up to potential readers: the author does address some of the discomfort you may feel while reading, and does so to my satisfaction.
