The Rez Road Follies: Canoes, Casinos, Computers, and Birch Bark Baskets [Paperback]

Jim Northrup (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 1999 | Series: Mysteries & Horror

Are you a full-blooded Indian? No, I'm a pint low today, just came from the blood bank. Do you speak your language? Yup, and yours too.

With wry humor, gentle candor, and an eye for the telling detail, Jim Northrup invites readers to explore the world of today's Anishinaabe, or Ojibway, people. In disarmingly simple and direct language, he recalls key events of his own life: enduring childhood at a bleak government boarding school, facing enemy fire in Vietnam, confronting family tragedies, becoming a grandfather and an almost-wise elder. Pithy Q&A sessions and jokes offer droll commentary on his encounters with the immigrant community (his term for Caucasian Americans), while leisurely told tales echo the pace of life on the reservation and explore the meaning of ancient rituals like the harvesting of wild rice and the impact of Indian casinos on native life. With the skill he brings to weaving birch-bark baskets, Northrup intertwines laconic observation and poetic reflection in a book that engages the heart, the mind, and the funny bone.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (October 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816634955
• ISBN-13: 978-0816634958
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real life in Indian Country, October 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rez Road Follies: Canoes, Casinos, Computers, and Birch Bark Baskets (Hardcover)

Northrup manages to take traditional storytelling and gives it a twist of seldom heard, outside-rez-life irony. During the spring 1998 semester, my students read a chapter and out of all the readings, this was the one that was most often used as an illistration on their final exam. Highly recomended for all, and yes, Jim Northrup does write the same way he speaks.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Fascinating, September 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rez Road Follies: Canoes, Casinos, Computers, and Birch Bark Baskets (Hardcover)

Northrup has a hilarious deadpan style, and this is an absolutely fascinating insight into modern Native American life and perspectives. It's unfortunate it's so badly edited (lots of repetition) because it deserved to be better polished. Even so, it's definitely a great read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gently Honest, March 1, 2000

By 

Tim Hundsdorfer (Boulder, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rez Road Follies: Canoes, Casinos, Computers, and Birch Bark Baskets (Hardcover)

While not particularly eloquent, Follies hits like a velvet hammer. Northrup's story should be required reading for anyone who has ever used the phrase: "I'm not racist, in fact I'm part indian." The storyline jumps around a bit and the prose isn't always the best, but Northrup more than makes up for it with honesty and the ability to convey his feelings for tradition, family and place. A quick read and very, very good. Highly recommended.