The Night Watchman: Pulitzer Prize Winning Fiction

I had to push myself through the first half of the novel but I enjoyed the second half. A million beautiful sentences filled the book. I especially enjoyed those about good fathers as they reminded me of my stepfather.

Covid Xoom?

This is a wonderful work of historical fiction, based on Erdrich’s own grandfather. But it reads like a love story about her turtle mountain people. Erdrich is a master at describing every day life on the reservation with dignity and admiration. We follow several story lines here and all receive the appropriate attention. Masterful.

Content warning for alcohol abuse, state-sponsored kidnapping and violence, murder, sexual abuse, forced prostitution, graphic content, and related topics. I thought this book was fantastic. I liked the characters and how they developed over the course of the story, including the secondary characters. The magical realism in the story was really successful, Erdrich really is an incredible author. My only qualm was the disconnect between Patrice an...read more

Louise Erdrich wrote this book to honor the work of her grandfather, the titular night watchman of a jewel bearing plant, was also a Chippewa tribal chairman who took the fight against the Indian Termination Policy all the way to Washington DC in 1954. Thomas, his fictionalized counterpart has a great story to tell. I only wish Erdrich has let more of his voice through, and not muddied the water with so many ancillary characters.

To be fair, the...read more