MixedThe New York Review of Books... a carefully researched, Yale-sponsored sociological study in which the possession of great wealth is treated with an almost liturgical reverence, and the possessors are handled like plutonium ... That [Farrell] got so many very rich people to talk to him is an accomplishment. His ability to endure the self-satisfaction, vapidity, and lack of humor in most of his very rich subjects is also remarkable ... Some of what the very rich interviewees tell Farrell he accepts with a touching lack of skepticism. Though he is constantly \'digging deeper,\' the idea that wealth is morally neutral in its origins goes pretty much unchallenged ... Farrell is looking for that kind of deep, spiritual motivation in the attachment the very rich people feel for Wyoming, but it’s not there as it is in the devotees of the buffalo or the wolf. He keeps pursuing a faith model, when a more useful model might be addiction ... the idea that greed might be “morally risky” gets passing mention. But seen in the context of addiction, the work that takes the very rich to the brink of collapse and endangerment of their well-being as they’re acquiring unnecessary additional wealth is an example of addictive behavior ... By delegating the job of interviewing the Latino subjects to the nonprofit whose identity he disguises (though it must be easy to guess which nonprofit it is), the author puts us at a remove from the poorest residents. Physical description of the interview subjects does not figure much in the book. People are characterized by what they say. As you go along, you keep waiting for comment from anyone besides the very rich, but there’s not a direct quote from a Latino person until far into the book... the places where the poor live aren’t. We’re told that many in the work force of Teton County must commute over a dangerous mountain pass, but Farrell doesn’t say where the pass is or what driving it is like. He must have driven it himself, maybe many times, but he doesn’t retrace it for our edification in the book.
Téa Obreht
PositiveThe New York Review of Books\"Obreht employs an elaborate and ingenious structure ... In some ways, Inland lacks [The Tiger\'s Wife\'s] assurance. A reader looking for accuracy of Western detail—probably not the smartest approach to a novel containing fantastical elements—will stub a toe now and then ... A real Western ought to be lonesome, and Obreht does lonesome beautifully ... Echoes of classic American voices can be heard throughout Inland, along with strains of García Márquez ... Like Willa Cather, with her Bohemian settlers on the Nebraska prairie, Obreht introduces immigrants never seen before in the West.\
David Treuer
PositiveNew York Review of BooksWith clarity and skill, Treuer traces the legal origins of the rise of Indian casinos ... personal [stories are] a highlight ... In The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, Treuer talks to lots of Indians to illustrate how they’re remaining themselves and helping their people ... Forget spending our money on walls—let’s direct serious attention to the revival and strengthening of native languages. Treuer’s instinct about their importance is sound. As his powerful and deeply felt books make clear, knowing better who you are might save your life, and your tribe’s life, and maybe your country, too.
