RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewThe famous author has always wrestled shadow and sunlight, laughter and agony, into tales that sometimes felt like ghost stories. Readers knew to seek the truths behind the narrative — to find sorrow in the funniest scenes, or the unexpected outburst of joy in a somber one ... Often witty, occasionally somber and elegiac.
Louise Erdrich
RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewIn this season of literary wildfires, when cultural borrowings have unleashed protests that have shaken the publishing industry, the issue of authenticity is paramount. Erdrich retakes the lead by offering the reader the gifts of love and richness that only a deeply connected writer can provide. You never doubt these are her people. The author...delivers a magisterial epic that brings her power of witness to every page. High drama, low comedy, ghost stories, mystical visions, family and tribal lore — wed to a surprising outbreak of enthusiasm for boxing matches — mix with political fervor and a terrifying undercurrent of predation and violence against women. For 450 pages, we are grateful to be allowed into this world ... I walked away from the Turtle Mountain clan feeling deeply moved, missing these characters as if they were real people known to me. In this era of modern termination assailing us, the book feels like a call to arms. A call to humanity. A banquet prepared for us by hungry people.
Kevin Young
RaveThe New York Times Book Review\"Kevin Young’s necessary new book of witness creates a parade through time, and I love a parade. Especially one with such good music — the poems in Brown dance through bebop and into James Brown’s megafunk ... Every line of Brown is aware that this storm must scare the hell out of people who have locked their doors and kneel before Fox News Channel asking God what went wrong. Young’s book releases a universal shout — political in the best, most visceral way, critical, angry, squinting hard at this culture — while remaining at the same time deeply and lovingly personal. Love soars over every section, especially the most painful ones ... It’s a parade for all of us. Kevin Young loves you. That’s why he sometimes gives you a kick. It’s a rage that protects the most delicate observer’s heart.\
