Customer Reviews

Not Enough Indians: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As a long time Simpsons fan, I was thrilled to see that Harry Shearer had written his first novel, NOT ENOUGH INDIANS, and even more thrilled to see it was partially set in a fictitious town in upstate New York, very much like the type of town I grew up in. Once I started reading, the exciting and hilarious rollercoaster ride began: With his finely honed eye for the absurd and the outrageous, Shearer swept me into the ever-amusing world of small town politics with its overly earnest, self-important players, the machinations of government lobbying, and the well oiled, craftily calculated operatons of a glitzy, cheesy Vegas-style casino, plopped in the middle of New England. Without missing a beat, Shearer nailed every hilarous nuance, and made me laugh so hard, I cried. If you like your comedy sharp, smart and biting, and love a novel populated with a host of characters entirely unaware of their horrific yet charming flaws, then NOT ENOUGH INDIANS is the perfectly delightful and satisfying read you're looking for.

I'm a fan of Harry Shearer. His work tends to fall into one of two categories: singular and personal (like his weblog or radio show); and ensemble (like The Simpsons, or Spinal Tap). Not Enough Indians is interesting because, as a novel, you'd expect it to be personal, but it is actually a wickedly funny ensemble comedy, in the same vein as A Mighty Wind. The characters are all engaging oddballs, and the whole situation (a nowhere town invents itself as an Indian tribe and opens a casino) is both funny and political. I give it an A.

I enjoy this book on more of a micro than a macro level. That is, the laughs are to be found more in isolated turns of phrase than in the story. There are many, many funny sentences (example: "Her physical appearance revealed a refreshing lack of vanity"), but the overall experience is less than profound.

There are a lot of characters, and at first I had trouble keeping track of them. Before you dive in, I strongly recommend that you study the major character profiles in the front and form a mental picture of each. If you don't familiarize yourself with these names beforehand, you may find it hard to tell whether the character being introduced is a major one. I recall thinking that with some of the lesser characters, it wasn't really necessary to give them names and a generic description would have been easier to keep straight.

Some readers will consider this book not worth the effort. On the other hand, because the jokes are consistently plentiful, a small random sample might be enough to help you decide whether you want to own the book or not.

The Bookschlepper reports: In an elongated skit from LeShow, Harry Shearer lampoons the Native American casinos, NPR, the federal government, upstate New York and Albany, lesbians, a Diapercon convention and the mob. The plot is predictable but the side comments are worth the price of admission.

Let's start by saying that I think Harry Shearer is a funny guy, and I don't mind "stereotypes" that include some truth. For example, I found Tony "Loose Slots" Silotta pretty funny, even though I'm Italian-American. But as one of the handful of non-Indians, outside of those working in Indian law or the BIA, with enough knowledge of the real issues to review this book, and given that any American Indian reviewing it would probably be seen as prejudiced, I've got to say that the most knee-slappingly hilarious aspect of this book is the premise that federal recognition could ever be that easy or that the Senate Committee (it is not a subcommittee) on Indian Affairs would or could suddenly push BIA to recognize any Indian nation with so little research, or that a tribe with a majority of members claiming 1/32 Indian blood could ever qualify.

I have to admit, I've never understood why so many people find American Indian gaming such an inherently funny idea (my reading of this book happened to coincide with the viewing of an old Family Guy episode with the same theme) while state-run or state-sanctioned corporate gaming that promises, but rarely delivers, even half the benefits that Indian gaming provides for both their own and surrounding communities isn't seen as an even bigger hoot. Sadly,Shearer buys into all the common--and generally mistaken--notions the average person holds re: Indian Gaming: that just about anyone can call themselves a "tribe" thus gaining federal recognition and a smooth sail into lucrative casinos, and that Indian gaming provides a safe haven for organized crime.

If I recall, recent BIA statistics show that recognition takes an average of 7 years. However, it isn't unusual for it to take as long as twenty given the arcane rules and paperwork involved. Indeed, the time and expense is often more than small nations can afford. Second, Indian gaming is the most highly regulated in the country, and while many a reporter has hoped for that big lead, they can find no links to organized crime.

The saddest part about this book is that Shearer appears to have some knowledge of American Indian issues. Unfortunately, he could have used his knowledge in a better way. No, I do not believe that all novels about Indians have to be like "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." In fact, literature by Native Americans is often extremely humorous. With the research he obviously did into the workings of the BIA, the story of a Indian nation trying to wend their way through that maze could have been really funny. Or how about a guy like Tony Silotta trying to get into the Indian Casino business and finding himself, for the first time, hitting a brick wall (there was very humorous Sopranos episode along those lines), or how about a state government trying to balance its budget by fleecing Indian casinos--or maybe that's too true to be funny.

Sad that someone with such a creative sense of humor ended up settling on a cliche that, unlike most cliches, isn't even based in truth.

What should have been a quick little read took me three weeks to get through. I was really looking forward to reading this book, as I love Harry's work with Spinal Tap, The Simpsons, etc. But I just couldn't get into it. Too many characters, not enough focus. It had it's moments, and I appreciated the satirical tone and several humorous passages. But overall I just can't recommend this book to anyone except the most diehard Shearer fans.

I was intrigued by the premise and expected some wit woven into a fun-to-read satire that would leave me with some sense of social awareness or at least a sense of being glad I read it in the end. Instead, I was left with a sense that I wished someone had driven a spike through my ear rather than wasting those hours of my life in this mind-less twitter of a book. The only persons who would find this book of value are the Beavis & Butthead wanna-bes who can't help but laugh when they see the f-word in print. Otherwise, do yourself a favor: read anything else but this waste of printing!

Not Enough Indians: A Novel

I love Harry Shearer as an actor, especially in films like This Is Spinal Tap. That's why I fully expected to enjoy Not Enough Indians: A Novel. Yes, I really enjoyed it. I live in Southern California, where there are a lot of Indian casinos, so this is subject matter I am regularly subjected to. Shearer does a good job of painting goofy charachters that are caught up in the crazy gambling business. You may not learn a whole lot about gaming, but you'll certainly have a giggle if you read this fine book.

I laughed till I cried! Coming on top of the Abramnoff/Reed scandals in DeeCee, you couldn't make this stuff up! The plot sounds like it is right out of the Washington Post funny pages. Shearer has come up with a uproarious combination of charactors rights out of The Simpsons intermixed with tales of real life politics. The trouble is-this could all be really happening!

strange, not funny, not worth the short time it took to read I guess I don't get it.