RaveThe New York Times Book Review... devastating ... Hokeah’s characters are drawn with such precision and pathos one can forgive some narrators’ meandering (and at times, repetitive) loquacity ... At the heart of Calling for a Blanket Dance is a profound reflection on the intergenerational nature of cultural trauma. Hokeah’s characters exist at the intersection of Kiowa, Cherokee and Mexican identity, which provides a vital exploration of indigeneity in contemporary American letters ... What is most skillful throughout is how Hokeah draws readers to Ever, even when Ever is only seen from the periphery ... Hokeah shows readers that there are many ways to examine pain, and that sometimes, it’s the indirect view that’s the most agonizing.
Sidik Fofana
RaveNew York Times Book Review... outstanding ... The brilliance of this debut, however, is that Fofana doesn’t let anyone go unseen ... masterfully paints a portrait of the people most impacted by gentrification ... Fofana brings his characters to life through their idiosyncratic speech patterns. Auxiliary verbs are dropped, words are misspelled, prepositions are jostled, all to create a sense of vernacular authenticity...Grammar is an instrument that Fofana plays by ear, to much success.
Antonia Angress
PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewThe novel is juggling a lot of questions about what it means to be an artist, the various ways one can or cannot approach the business side of art, and whether or not the undertaking is worth it. In a sense, the novel is deceptively not about art, but rather, about money, power, legacy and the ways that we commodify everything (even likes and blog views) in this late stage of capitalism that we find ourselves in. Though the characters, at times, feel taken from central casting, Angress’s strength is her ability to create an engrossing plot, allowing readers to watch as her messy characters navigate their way to the finish line.
