The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (20th Anniversary Edition)

Sherman Alexie fearlessly confronts the problems faced by the Native Americans of Spokane, Washington. With his sense of hilarity and deep berevity, Alexie points to such problems as alcoholism, broken families, drug abuse, poverty, loss of culture, loss of community, and loss of pride. While it may appear as though Alexies' musings are all "fun-and-games," it will not be difficult for the reader to discern that there is something deeply troubling about most of the characters in Alexies' writings. One gets the sense that when ALexie paints a verbal picture of the reservation, a sense of utter hoplessness prevades the entire situation. Just look at the picture on the book cover. If one were to look closely, they would be able to see a pickup truck making its way away from the reservation. The reservation that it is leaving appears to be in flames. One of the main character's father drinks himself to death, and his son is too poverty stricken to even come collect the remains. It is not all bad, however. Alexie does offer a corridor of redemption when the main character ( a young Indian named Victor) adopts a child and turns his life around, leading one to beleive that all hope is never lost. All in all, this read is both heart breaking and hilarious as Alexie writes some genuinely funny material.

Real life, on and off the Reservation. This is a collection of insightful, unflinching, yet sometimes laugh-out-loud funny snapshots of contemporary Native American life. Here is one of my favorites: "Adrian and I sat on the porch and watched the reservation. Nothing happened. From our chairs made rockers by unsteady legs, we could see that the only traffic signal on the reservation had stopped working. ... We watched the grass grow and the rivers flow." (Which, of course, is treaty language.) "It's hard to be optimistic on the reservation. When a glass sits on a table here, people don't wonder if it's half filled or half empty. They just hope it's good beer. Still, Indians have a way of surviving. But it's almost like Indians can easily survive the big stuff. Mass murder, loss of language and land rights. It's the small things that hurt the most. The white waitress who wouldn't take an order, Tonto, the Washington Redskins."

This collection of short stories was interesting but very repetitive of the same themes. Drunken Indians at the expense of discriminatory whites gets tiring after awhile. The titles of the stories are most inventive but have nothing much to do with the stories themselves.There is some humor in the book but there is lots of free-thought writing that doesn't mean much and is hard to follow.

_The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" is a series of vignettes of modern-day life on the Reservation. The stories are sad - tragic, even - but also deeply moving and at times, humourous (in a gallows-humor kind of way.) It is a profound commentary on the struggles of Native Americans, battling the remnants of their past and their marginalization in the present. A sense of desperation, hopelessness and failure runs through the stories as the characters struggle with alcoholism, prejudice, and the injustices of the past. Yet there remains a strong sense of community and love even as they fight among themselves.

The stories are rich with symbolism, but there is also an honesty and forthrightness in the experiences Alexie relates, particularly in the struggle between "Urbans" (Natives who have left the reservation) and "Skins" (Natives who remain on the reservation). Should this be required reading for students? I think so - _The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" ranks up there with _To Kill a Mockingbird_ and _A Raisin in the Sun_ with contemporary literature. Highly recommended.

I initially picked this book up for two reasons--I liked Alexie's novel, Indian Killer, and more importantly because I live in Spokane, WA and have traveled extensively through the Reservations and towns that are described in the stories. The descriptions and the characters are very realistic, the names and places are not very fictionalized, and it makes me feel right at home. Fortunately for those readers not privleged to live in the Inland Northwest, the stories also teach a lot about Indian culture, the modern Native American and their heritage. It is a disturbing picture at times with too much alcaholism, violence, and racism, but underneath it all there is a great deal of love which makes the stories comforting and redeeming. Alexie has a lyrical voice, and when combined with his authenticsity, beautiful, rich stories are produced. Aside from those academic traits, he is also very funny, honest, and affectionate throughout, and those qualities are what I will remember about this book far more than the descriptions of familiar hotels on Third Avenue and the basketball games played between Springdale and Wellpinit. It is a great, quick read, and a wonderful way to pass an afternoon.

I totally adore this book. I first read it in 1994 as a Freshman in High School. It's how I fell in love with Sherman Alexie (he spoke at my graduation last year at the University of Washington and was FABULOUS!!). It's such a lyrical story, the vignettes are lovely, very poignant.

I love Thomas Builds-The-Fire so MUCH!! It makes me so sad the way in which he is received by most people in this book. His stories are so precious and important, I want to blast them over loud speakers!!

So glad I re-read this. Such a beautiful string of intertwined vignettes, even when discussing UN-beautiful things, Alexie's poetic words caress my tongue and brain. Ahhhhh....Good Stuff. Very Powerful. Everyone should read this, at least once.

This collection of short stories about the American Indian experience is brilliant. I teach this collection in my college lit classes and students love it. The story "Because My Father...." is a favorite. We read it along with analyzing clips of Jimi Hendrix playing the Banner at Woodstock. I've presented several professional papers at conferences of this story along with the Hendrix clips and the audience of lit profs like it too. Always generates a lot of discussion of the intersections of cultures and classes. Students also love Reservation Blues. (I can't get rid of the "Kid" tag. Definitely not for kids.)

This book does not need my rating - it's been viewed as one of the best collection of stories ever written (at least by an American) for over 20 years. It deserves that reputation. Sherman Alexie is a wonder. As a Spokane Indian he speaks with a voice rarely heard over the last 100 years but the ideas and values transcend nationality or any creed. No one in this country has a completely rounded education if he has not read this book.

I read this many years ago. Although it's a collection of short stories, they are interrelated. The stories deal with a Native American's relationship with his father. I highly recommend this book as well as the movie made from the book - both might be good to read/view for Father's Day.

A short story from this book was part of the required reading in one of the courses of the college I dropped out of. I'm glad it was because the story, This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona, really stuck with me and this book is the first one I searched out when getting back into reading recreationally. The Approximate Size of My Favourite Tumour was my favorite story in the book.

Sherman Alexie is such a brilliant talent that he will make you set your copy of The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven down to breathe and reflect on your own life, as well as the lives of everyone you have touched or discarded. It is a lyrical depiction of "rez" life with a devotion to reality. This compassionate set of stories about personal quagmires and insightful hopelessness is indeed near perfection. Sherman Alexie has compared the ordinary to medicine, and in this book he takes apart the things in which we do not notice and brings us to the realization that everything can be potent.

Read it if … you enjoy short stories or nontraditional narratives. Each short story has ties to the next, sometimes sharing characters and most times sharing settings. The stories are brief, curated in digestible chunks, but it’s just as easy to sit down and read the whole book in one go.

Don’t read it if … you don’t want to feel feelings. Some stories are deeply tragic and will force you to pause and reflect on concepts like loss, self-loathing, a history of bitterness. I’m not even white and I felt white guilt. Alexie doesn’t pull any punches, even though he punches in beautiful, lyrical way. (Not sorry about the mixed metaphor.)

This book is like … Pinckney Benedict’s The Wrecking Yard, which also resonates with Alexie’s structure of intertwining short stories and myth-based plots. Of course, we shouldn’t speak of Native American Literature without paying homage to Leslie Marmon Silko and her beautiful novel Ceremony. The complimentary pain and the love of being Native American, especially at a time when the U.S. is at war, that drives the protagonist in Ceremony also drives Alexie’s cast of characters. For younger readers or a more humorous look into life on the Spokane Reservation, read Alexie’s award-winning young adult novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which was also beautifully illustrated by Ellen Forney.

Check out the full review on my blog: [...]

A elegant and moving collection of short stories. Sherman Alexie is such a gifted writing. Certain characters can reappear in the course of the collection, to subtly develop a darkly entertaining story line. The book is a sobering look at twentieth century reservation life.

Robert Case
author of "Icarus and the Wing Builder"

This is a collection of related short stories of life on the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington state. There is a lot of drinking, dancing, and driving. The characters in the stories long for the heroic pre-reservation life. Alexie does a good job describing the problems and struggles of life on the reservation. The recurring characters are interesting if not compelling.

After reading Elizabeth Strout's brilliant novels "The Burgess Boys" and "Amy and Isabelle" which tackles the ideas of the impact of our past lives on our current. Alexie addresses that theme as well: "How much do we remember of what hurts us most? I've been thinking about pain, how each of us constructs our past to justify what we feel now." (p 196). He sees us as reconstructing our past as much as our past constructing our present.

This is a nice, quick read but if you are looking to be immersed in other lives there are better options. This book is rated higher than my 3 stars on GoodReads and the store so be sure to read those reviews; they may see things I don't.

In the book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven Junior struggles with his background and his life. He lives on a Indian Reservation and through out the book he is telling stories about his life, his past, and his friends lives. Life is not easy on the reservation and many things that we take for granted are rare commodities there. The book is a collection of short stories that I found to be very confusing at times. When Thomas Builds the Fire is brought to trial and he tells the stories in his defense I was lost. Other Chapters I really enjoyed. The chapter about James and how he will not talk I found to be captivating. It was a change of pace from the rest of the book because I showed more intellect and more hope for the future generations. Some parts of the book were quite sad but written in a way that I found them quite funny. When Victor was diagnosed with cancer but uses hummor to try to get through it I found to be uplifting. He knew that he was going to die and because he thought that he lived a happy life he did not want to spend the last of it being sad and feeling sorry for himself. And when he has to be driven to get his wife and he gets the one person on the resorvation that drives backwards is so ironic. Driving backwards was his way of showing what a weird world that they were living in and even though it may be odd it does not mean that they can not be as happy or as sad as the rest of the world. I though that the book was well written and even though I did not particuarlly enjoy it I think many others will. It shows us a world that were in our minds strown with stereotypes about Indians and because of the this book I feel a little more enlightened into the world on a resorvation.

Sherman Alexie is my favorite contemporary writer. Strangely, I read Indian Killer first, then I proceded onto this great collection. Obviously, the two works are strikingly different but both excellent. I liked this one better. Alexie truly captured life on the Reservation and Indian life in general and how Native Americans relate, survive, stay together in modern America. Above else, this book made me think about a culture I grew up near but didn't pay much attention to. Alexie is truly one of America's best writers.

"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" is a great collection of short stories and the perfect starting point for those unfamiliar with the works of Sherman Alexie. Alexie was born and raised on the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington, and many of these stories are based off of real experiences from his time there. The topics this book covers range from alcoholism, relationships between a father and son, and traditional American Indian culture, something that these people are losing more and more as the years go by.

The stories mainly follow a Spokane Indian named Victor. The stories in the book are all independent of each other, they only share people and setting. In some of the stories, Victor is a little boy witnessing the evils of alcoholism and its effects on the people living on the reservation. In some others, he interacts with his father. Some of the stories also include a character named Thomas Builds-the-fire, a childhood friend of Victors who is known, but not necessarily liked, on the reservation for his ability to tell stories in the vein of traditional Indian storytelling. His presence in the collection gives us the voice of traditional Indian culture, which is not often seen these days in contemporary literature.

If you can read this review, I would recommend this book to you. Alexie is a brilliant writer. If you are unfamiliar with the current state of American Indian life, Alexie's prose will take you on a very enjoyable, and informative, ride. If you are already a fan of Alexie, this work is one of his darker and it would be the one that helped launch his very successful writing career. Five stars!

The title itself is very intriguing. The title pits two famous american icons, who are indian and white, against each other. Sort of setting the stage for reservation life in the present day. A constant clash between races and rights. This collection of short stories, in my mind, is one of the best books published by a Native American ever. The author, Sherman Alexie, has a very distinct voice. He sets scenes very well and the descriptive language he uses is great. Each chapter brings a new adventure and a new lesson to learn. Alexie creates many interesting characters in Lone Ranger and Tonto but a few stand out. One is Victor who was left by his father at a young age and goes threw many adventures chronicled by Alexie. One of his adventures is very well depicted in the film Smoke Signals. The movie focuses on Victor traveling to Arizona to retrieve his dead Fathers remains. Smoke Signals focuses on my favorite chapter in the book anyway. A lot of issues are brought up between Thomas Builds-The-Fire and Victor. Their travels bring them closer together and many of their past conflicts are resolved. Usually I'm not a sucker for stories with corny happy endings but this one got me. I read this book for a school assignment and usually I don't like to read books issued by teachers as required reading but I liked this one. It isn't my favorite book of all time but I liked it. That is saying a lot because I don't read much outside of the classroom and getting exposed to new authors I like is always fun.

Sherman Alexie's short stories are both vivid and refreshingly honest. Discussing everything from a basketball game to a battle with cancer. Each story has such an element of truth, I find myself wondering if this is really a book of fiction. Alexie has a way of relating everything faced on the reservation with all people. While my knowledge of Indians does not go past my 7th grade study of them, I found myself relating to so many of the issues discussed. "Do you ever want kids?" I asked Norma. "Yeah, of course," she said. "I want a dozen. I want my own tribe." "You're kidding." "Kind of. Don't know if I want to raise kids in this world. It's getting uglier by the second. And not just on the reservation." (Page 207) I don't think Alexie could have captured my thoughts on the subject any better, maybe this is why I enjoyed reading "Tonto and The Lone Ranger Fistfight In Heaven" so much. It not only opened my eyes to Native Americans, but showed me there were other people that felt this way on many of the issues. A very comforting feeling. I highly recommend this book, and feel privileged at the chance to read it.

I was very impressed by the book although it was hard to get used to, Alexie has a really difined, confusing form of writing where he uses a lot of reacurring implicit metaphorical themes and the writing is majoritly based around these themes but after a while of reading one begins to understand how he writes. I enjoyed the book but it is not a book that I could get deeply involved in because you don't grow a relatioship with the charecters like you would with a book that is just a constant plot instead of short stories. Yes Victor is the main charecter for most of the storys but you dont really learn the charecters consistent emotions and personality because he's more of a person whom some of the storys are about then a story following one peroson and his life. I belive for the intention of the book it worked well but it doesn't appeal to me as much as a tradiional book, I liked how the storys are told, in a very realist, unfantasized way that is intresting because it is believable that it is non-ficiton and people are attracted to firsthand accounts of poverty that don't fantasize it nor do they look for pity. I believe that it was very creative and believable and the cool part is the storys are very possibly made up but also very possibly true but teetering on the virge of unreal, backwards trucks and drunk indians on the rollercoaster, thats what makes this series of storys so intresting is that the reader can make up what they want for the underlying metaphor and if it is a happy or sad set of storys, I saw it overall as a happy set because the people aren't always too unhappy but are satasfied with where they are partially because they dont have the motivation to pursue anything more, partially because is INdian tradition and partially because they really dont mind too much that they are living in HUD house on an Indian reservation. Overall I enjoyed the book and felt it was well written.

Imagination, dreams, friendship, racial pride and hatred for Whites for history, sadness for family for love, disjointed memories like those seen through a smashed mirror where beer and whiskey and Jimi Hendrix form the poetic beauty of these badass, unforgiving visiontales. As an Irishman, the love of dreams, booze, potatoes, Hendrix, friends and lousy love-life as well as dancing on the roof of the sky with words and stories and even b-ball feet, speaks to me! Alexie is the f'ing man!!!! I hope his other stuff is as good.

Having spent my teenage years on the Nez Perce Reservation to the south of the Spokanes, I was sadly reminded of life there. I found very little humor in the book. Too many of the people, characterised in this collection of short stories reminded me of those who are still there. I fall into the heading as one of the urbans according to Alexie's definition. And as much as I have tried to forget, I am haunted by the memories of those I left.

The Book The Lone Ranger and Tanto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie was very well written and enjoyable. It is a collection of inter connecting short stories that share similar themes and characters as well. It revolves around a few main characters including Victor the main character, and Thomas Builds-The-Fire an obsessive story teller. The characters are very well developed, in each story he builds on each character until you really feel as if you know them. The flaws to this are sometimes there are contradicting traits in different stories, but that is understandable with a collection of short stories. He seems to develop the settings enough but not to great detail, which is sometimes effective and at other times leaves you waiting for more. For short stories his plot development was excellent, as well as the way in which he compiled his stories, theses two elements combined kept me engrained in the book and were very effective in portraying theme. His overall writing style is very blunt, honest, and real, he also uses some elements of realistic satire to keep you interested and shocked simultaneously. I also saw hints of budding surrealism in some stories, but not enough to create an overall surrealistic effect; I think his usage of it is appropriate but as well developed as it could be. I enjoyed his style of writing because it gave me the raw and bitter truth behind life on an Indian reservation. He spoke so realistically and honestly, like he had been there first hand, which makes this book very good and effective with its portrayal. The themes are very apparent, and do not involve much reading between the lines, but are there and do leave an impact on you. The themes of differences and discrimination are very effective as well as the theme of the difference between modern and past Indians. Overall I really enjoyed his work, despite his minor flaws in development of character, and setting. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Native American life, or someone willing to read an entertaining and powerful book.

Sherman Alexie's book, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" is a captivating masterpiece about the lives of Native Americans. Native Americans are regarded by many as people we often forget about or look over, and this book gives us a window into their hearts, souls, and ideas. We follow the lives of many ordinary Indians like Victor and Thomas builds-the-fire. Victor who must face the pain of a nine year old growing up without a father and Thomas whose only means of expression is through his stories which are the same stories that ended in his downfall and imprisonment. For Thomas the stories he had linked him to his heritage, and though many thought he was unjustly imprisoned he faced injustice by his own people. Sherman Alexie is able to intertwine memory, fantasy, and dreams together to write a compilation of short stories that are poetic in many ways. Although many different authors narrate many chapters, it does not take away from the realism of the stories. One stops to care about who is talking and starts to care only about what they are saying. Alexie combines the harsh realism of the everyday world for a Native American with a great amount of humor that goes along as well in the lives of the Indians. The Native Americans continually talk about how the white man has been the root of all their problems, but through the eloquence and narration of these short stories, the Native Americans themselves have contributed as well. Whether it be drinking heavily or losing respect for there own roots. Alexie has truly written a masterpiece and has made us all look differently upon American culture because of this book and it is a definite must read for anyone. If ur reading this, "Hello".

This book was amazing. The book grabs your attention on the first page and doesn't let go even as you finish that last page. The book leaves you looking for the next story. The stories show you so many sides of Reservation life. After reading this book I feel like I understand Reservation life a lot more then I did before reading this book. I think it takes you inside of the Indian culture, their family life, and into the lives of the people. It surpasses all the superficial, sugarcoated crap that they teach you in school and shows you what really goes on behind "closed doors".

This novel has very strong voice, you feel as if you are there, always being given a little more and a little more to keep you reading. It takes you into the world and lives of the characters, it makes you understand their lives and see a lot of different sides and aspects of reservations life. It gives you details that most books wouldn't dare deal with. It brings reservation literature to a new level of understanding. When I put down the book, I felt as if I had known the characters in the book for years. I felt like I was in the book. The characters speech fit the story, they didn't try and sugar coat things, and the author gave it to you like it is. I think knowing the characters gave to book so much more meaning. And with getting to know the characters, you got a feel for there surroundings. You feel as if you can see their homes and the land on the reservation. I could visualize in my head the places that they went to through out the book.
All and all I think this is a wonderful book, I think that if you are interested in Native American literature you should check this book out. It is written very well and well keep you reading and wanting more.

I'm not always a huge fan of short stories, but Alexie is a great writer. He mixes humor in with serious topics in a way that makes the stories less heavy without cheapening them. I didn't love all of the stories in this book, but overall it was a good read.

A review of The Lone Ranger and Tanto Fistfight in Heaven
I'll get straight to the point on this book; It's a cry for help from the Spokane Indian Reservation urging the reader to actively take part in aiding the Native Americans in their fight against the opressiveness of the policies that said government is using to slowly eradicate their culture. This may sound a bit harsh to the uninformed, but after hearing story upon story of the United States somehow screwing up (whether intentinally or not) the very heart of the Native American culture, I'm honestly so angry I could spit! Every story in this novel just leads us to the same conclusion: that the Native Americans, despite the abuse they've been forced to endure, are still very much alive today as a culture and are not very happy about the way they've been treated. Is it any wonder that groups like AIM are so angry? We have created a frankenstein's monster by creating the reservations, and we have to live with the fact that what our ancestors did (and what our current legislature is doing now) is wrong, and no matter how much money we send to the Native Americans in an effort to somehow alleviate our guilt, they will still not be satisfied until we give them back what they really want: their land. While Sherman Alexie certainly gets these points across in the book, at times he seems to be quite flamboyant, almost to the point of showing off. I can see his point in doing so, however...Is there really any other way to grab the attention of the average layman who might just be thumbing through the book? I mean, attention to their cause is certainly what the Native Americans need to further their fight to regain their soveriegn rights! Of course, any writer always needs to watch out for being too preachy, and occasionally Alexie borderlines on this. One of the great things about this novel is that the characters are just so rich in their depth and understandability. Take the character Thomas Builds-The-Fire, for instance....Here is a chaacter who, despite being held as an annoying twit by most of the reservation for buying into the "old" Indian ways, continues to tell his luscious stories, somehow managing to relate even the most modern of things to the ancestral ways of the Spokane Indians. All in all, this novel is a good, easy read that, while angry in its disposition occasionally, is well deserved of that emotion. The only real problem that I can foresee is that the literary structure of the novel tends to deviate substantially from the normal accepted canon, and some people may not understand that this is the way some Native Americans write...It's just a cultural difference, and the reward is great should one be able to decipher the the literary structure.

Sherman Alexie magnificently depicts the lives of people on the Spokane Indian Reservation through the short stories in his book "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven". Each story is a piece of the big picture that Alexie is trying to make which simply is to show the hardship and struggle of the lives of the people on the Reservation. This book is fascinating to read because each story is as intriguing as the one which it has just past and the one which proceeds. The lives of the people are filled with anger, pain, hurt, heartbreak, bitterness, love, and the loss of it. It also shows the relationships and how they vary between whites and within their own reservation, and how their lives and the way they view life is completely different than those outside of the Reservation. In "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven", Alexie's usage of flashbacks help the reader understand the theme of the book: there are many things in life we can't change, even if we want things to turn out differently or have an outcome which we desire. In each story in "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven", at least one flashback occurs. A typical story in this novel will start off with a story, and then tell another story by flashing back to the past in order to help explain the present story, and then it finishes by going back to the present story. Alexie efficiently uses this technique in order to relate to the theme of endings sometimes don't end up how we wish them to be because many of the traits and stories of the people in the flashbacks didn't really change in the present. People try to change bad habits inherited by their ancestors, but they never seem to be able to. There were times when two people love each other, but one has to leave. These are just a couple of examples of the stories told in this book. Each goes from present to past and then finishes off with the present with leaving the reader with some conclusion or a direction as to how the story would finish. These examples are things that some people can't change, even if they had wanted things to work out, they simply wouldn't. It isn't just love they can't change, often it is basketball, the future, drinking problems, or family. The use of flashbacks enables the reader to really grasp the theme of some things in life cannot be changed, because it shows how things were and how things are now and how many times even though change is wanted, it doesn't always happen.

Sherman Alexie writes a powerful description of the Native American's life in the modern world. He uses methaphors to engage the reader into a deeper thought process which must be first understood if the book is to be useful. This book is written for intelligent people who truly want to understand what Native Americans endure and how they cope with the inhumanities placed upon them. Taken out of context, the stories in this book seem to be jumbled up pieces of a puzzle. But when the book is read in its entirety, it weaves together an elaborate portrayl of human emotion and deeper consciusness. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be challenged by a dark yet colorful description of the Native American life.

A collection of short stories written by a local American Indian, Sherman Alexie that will bring you to a different world. Even though the stories are fiction, they are based on things he's seen and experienced. Some of the stories in this collection are a little boring, or too deep for some to catch. But most of them are worth reading more than once. For example: "A Drug Called Tradition", "Because My Father Always Said He Was they Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play `The Star Spangled Banner' at Woodstock", "All I Wanted to Do Was Dance", "The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire", and many others.

I'd heard of Sherman Alexie for a couple of years: he's often mentioned in lists of noteworthy Native American writers. So I bought THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN on name recognition only. Out of curiousity. This book is wonderfully original and quirky, off-beat with authentic characters. The stories, most of which I liked, seem to tell the truth about what it's like to live in the northwest on the Spokane reservation. The author's use of language is masterful. Be prepared for quirky, off-beat humor as well. The book manages to be poignant and ironical at the same time (as in "Crazy Horse Dreams", in which a character says,"'Nothing more hopeless than a sober Indian'"). My favorite stories: "Jesus Christ's Half-Brother Is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation" and "Indian Education." If you read and like this book, check out SMOKE SIGNALS--the movie based on Mr. Alexie's book by the same name.

As I read this book, I realized it was one of those texts which you had to finish. If you said you only read half of it, I won't believe you! This book introduces us to a whole range of characters (American Indians) living on a reservation. Sherman Alexie takes us into their lives, which is filled with humour, and also frustration. My favorite character was Victor. I liked him because he has a huge history and rich culture... and it mixes with the new western civilization. We also see how he developes, so it was interesting. All in all, if you are remotely interested in learning about the difficulties of a "coming of age" in the US, or just looking for a few hard-to-put-down tales about Native Americans... buy this book.

This is my second time through this book (I read it when it first was published), and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. Through all of the sadness and insanity of reservation life, these characters fight for dignity, a future, and meaning. Alexie suggests that the first line of hope comes through imagination. I agree.
I also highly recommend his Reservation Blues.

Alexie's collection of short stories is only the tip of the iceberg in this amazing talented man. He's also a poet--see "Old Shirts and New Skins" among others--and novelist. "Reservation Blues" will blow you out of the water. Of course, Alexie is also a screenwriter now with the advent of the Chris Eyre movie, "Smoke Signals." Alexie is not a man to be ignored, a writer who will drag us kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

This book said it all and then some. And made me realize that the,"Truth Is Out There", in more versions than one, and all is not well among, "The People" on any rez or urban setting. And they're all crying out the same thing. Generation to Generation. But is anyone listening? Time will tell. And stories will continue to be written on and on............

Winner of two Sundance Film Festival awards, writer of the screenplay for Smoke Signals, along with a few other books and collections of poetry, Sherman Alexie authored The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
Victor, a nine-year-old Spokane Indian boy, awoke on New Year's Eve of 1976 to the sound of his parents having a party. Not only did he awake to a party, soon after he heard his uncles fighting. Not that this was a surprise to young Victor, but every time they fought it made him angry because he knew there was more pain than could ever be spoken. Remembering back to earlier days, Victor remembers that around this same time when he was five he saw his father look into his wallet and reach for money that wasn't there. Alexie uses such vivid details in explaining the pain Victor endured seeing his father cry, one of my favorites is how he describes Victor seeing his father's tears as "... millions of icy knives through the air, each specific and beautiful. Each dangerous and random." It is symbolism such as this that keeps the reader engaged and interested throughout the book. Alexie continues on using different characters such as Thomas-Builds-the-Fire who never gives up on his storytelling, and Jimmy Many Horses who is dying of cancer.
Although this is an engaging book and gives the reader a different perspective on what it's really like to live and grow up on a reservation, Alexie can be slow at times. He reminds me a little of one of those sob stories you hear on a bad small claims court case on TV. Maybe it sounds a little harsh, but you know when an argument is clearly over yet the defendant just keeps on going? There are a few times in this book where I just had to put it down and ignore it for a while because I couldn't handle Alexie's humor of basketball and drunken dancing. Overall, I would have to give Alexie props for this book because he does use some incredible sensory descriptions. Hopefully for his next novel though he can get past some of his shattered dreams and stick to a story.

As I read this book, I realized it was one of those texts which you had to finish. If you said you only read half of it, I won't believe you! This book introduces us to a whole range of characters (American Indians) living on a reservation. Sherman Alexie takes us into their lives, which is filled with humour, and also frustration. My favorite character was Victor. I liked him because he has a huge history and rich culture... and it mixes with the new western civilization. We also see how he developes, so it was interesting. All in all, if you are remotely interested in learning about the difficulties of a "coming of age" in the US, or just looking for a few hard-to-put-down tales about Native Americans... buy this book.

This is my second time through this book (I read it when it first was published), and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. Through all of the sadness and insanity of reservation life, these characters fight for dignity, a future, and meaning. Alexie suggests that the first line of hope comes through imagination. I agree.
I also highly recommend his Reservation Blues.

Alexie's collection of short stories is only the tip of the iceberg in this amazing talented man. He's also a poet--see "Old Shirts and New Skins" among others--and novelist. "Reservation Blues" will blow you out of the water. Of course, Alexie is also a screenwriter now with the advent of the Chris Eyre movie, "Smoke Signals." Alexie is not a man to be ignored, a writer who will drag us kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

This book said it all and then some. And made me realize that the,"Truth Is Out There", in more versions than one, and all is not well among, "The People" on any rez or urban setting. And they're all crying out the same thing. Generation to Generation. But is anyone listening? Time will tell. And stories will continue to be written on and on............

Winner of two Sundance Film Festival awards, writer of the screenplay for Smoke Signals, along with a few other books and collections of poetry, Sherman Alexie authored The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
Victor, a nine-year-old Spokane Indian boy, awoke on New Year's Eve of 1976 to the sound of his parents having a party. Not only did he awake to a party, soon after he heard his uncles fighting. Not that this was a surprise to young Victor, but every time they fought it made him angry because he knew there was more pain than could ever be spoken. Remembering back to earlier days, Victor remembers that around this same time when he was five he saw his father look into his wallet and reach for money that wasn't there. Alexie uses such vivid details in explaining the pain Victor endured seeing his father cry, one of my favorites is how he describes Victor seeing his father's tears as "... millions of icy knives through the air, each specific and beautiful. Each dangerous and random." It is symbolism such as this that keeps the reader engaged and interested throughout the book. Alexie continues on using different characters such as Thomas-Builds-the-Fire who never gives up on his storytelling, and Jimmy Many Horses who is dying of cancer.
Although this is an engaging book and gives the reader a different perspective on what it's really like to live and grow up on a reservation, Alexie can be slow at times. He reminds me a little of one of those sob stories you hear on a bad small claims court case on TV. Maybe it sounds a little harsh, but you know when an argument is clearly over yet the defendant just keeps on going? There are a few times in this book where I just had to put it down and ignore it for a while because I couldn't handle Alexie's humor of basketball and drunken dancing. Overall, I would have to give Alexie props for this book because he does use some incredible sensory descriptions. Hopefully for his next novel though he can get past some of his shattered dreams and stick to a story.

From his many short stories of pain, suffering, and broken dreams, Sherman Alexie taught his readers of the lives of present-day Native Americans. He confronts many significant issues, through the stories of the people around him. For example in the story of a great basketball hero, Julius Windmaker, who falls into the trap of drinking and carries out senseless acts of violence to prove his worth as a warrior to the tribe, Alexie depicts the Native American struggle against there traditions of the past and new reservation life. From this, he shows Julius, like countless other Native Americans, have their dreams crushed as they turn to a life of drinking. Countless other issues were raised, however towards the conclusion of the book Alexie describes what he considers the perfect Native American, Norma Many Horses. As she appreciated her ancient traditions, yet living modernly. Norma was respected by all, kind to everyone and very forgiving.

I keep giving away copies of this book. I want everyone to read it. It is complex, deep, darkly humourous, disturbing, stark, naked, poetic. ALexie portrays life on the Spokane Reservation in a trustworthy way. His prose is so genuine that I find myself wondering if these are true stories, and yet they approach the fantastic and absurd. Brillant stuff.

I found this book sitting in my classroom (I'm a teacher) when I moved into it. One night, having little to do, I took it home and opened it. I had a basic knowledge of Sherman Alexie's work, but had never read any of his stuff. Finding that book in my classroom turned out to be a stroke of good luck.

The book is a fast read, but manages still to convey complex stories and messages. At first, the short stories seem disconnected, but as you read on, you come to recognize patterns, connections, and themes. It is a book that I can open up, read a story or two, then put it down and feel satisfied. The short stories do well on their own or as a part of the larger stories.

I should preface this book with a personal explanation. The best way to approach Sherman Alexie is to look into your own personal history regarding American Indians. For me, I grew up with the vague notion that Indians didn't exist anymore. I think a lot of kids that don't live near large Native American populations suffer from this perception. I mean, where in popular culture do you ever come across a modern day Indian? There was that movie "Smoke Signals" (based on one of the stories in this book) and possibly the television show "Northern Exposure" but that is it, ladies and gentlemen. In my own life, realization hit when I started Junior High and read "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" for the very first time. If you've read the book then you know that it dwells on the character "Chief" and his past. I read about him and found out that I knew diddly over squat about Native Americans. They show "Dances With Wolves" in high school homeroom and through that you're supposed to infer contemporary Indian culture? That's like watching "Gone With the Wind" and wondering where all the happy slaves are today. It doesn't make sense. This is why I'm nominating, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven" as the book that should be required in every Junior High and High School in the country immediately. We've all read our "Catcher In the Rye" and "Scarlet Letter". Now let's read something real.

The book is a collection of short stories, all containing repeating characters and events. There is no single plot to the story and while the character of Victor is probably the closest thing the book has to a protagonist, he hardly hogs the spotlight for very long. In this book we witness a single Spokane Reservation. We watch personal triumphs and repeated failures and mistakes. Author Alexie draws on history, tradition, and contemporary realism to convey the current state of the American Indian. You'll learn more than you thought to.

My favorite chapter in this book, bar none, is "A Good Story". In it, a character's mother mentions that her son's stories are always kind of depressing. By this point the reader is more than halfway through the book and has probably thought the same thing (deny it though they might). In response, Junior tells a story that isn't depressing. Just thoughtful and interesting. It's as if Alexie himself has conceded briefly that, no, the stories in this book aren't of the cheery happy-go-lucky nature the reader might be looking for. That's probably because the stories are desperately real and fantastical all at once. To be honest, I feel a bit inadequate reviewing this book. It's obvious that Alexie is probably the greatest writer of his generation. Hence, these stories are infinitely readable and distressing.

This is a good book. This is the book to read when you ask yourself, "What author haven't I ever read before?". This is the book you will find yourself poring over on subways, buses, and taxi cabs. You'll leave it on park benches and run twenty blocks north to retrieve it again. I don't know how many other ways I can say that it's a good book. Well worth reading. Funny and taxing all at once. Sherman Alexie deserves greater praise than any I can give him. All I can say then is that this book is beautiful. Read this book.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is for the true American Indian. This book is several short stories that have both fantasy and real life events. These memories are sometimes dark but many times good. Through out this book Victor tells of his memories with his family and friends. Until the day of a horrific accident! In his family that will change his life forever. This book has many everyday problems and life problems of people that you can relate your-self to if not now, maybe In the future. This book has many modern traditions of both today and the past Indian cultures. The movie Smoke signals is based on this book I didn't think it was near as good as the book even know the movie got many awards. I felt that the movie was very boring.This book is a vivd account of the life on an Indian reservation in modern day. Instead of focusing on one character, Alexie shared stories of several different people which gives a more complete description. There is Victor, who is brought up around alcoholism, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, who is constantly telling stories, and Jimmy Many Horses, who jokes about his cancer.

States Alexie in the introduction (pp xviii, xix) to this collection of short stories. Of his leap from literary obscurity to published author and member of the middle-class, he writes, "all because I wrote stories and poems about being a poor Indian growing up in an alcoholic family on an alcoholic reservation." And that about sums them up. Read the introduction and you can't help but like the guy (especially his brief experience with a too big for her britches agent). His tales are unusual, spiritual, and immensely important, but often sad. Even so, after reading several with similar themes, most will have had their fill. It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Likers of Alexie's stories may also enjoy: Love Medicine by Louis Erdich, The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera, The Bone People by Keri Hulme and Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner.

This book had it all. Love, hate, sadness with only a glimpse of happiness. It gives you some insight and helps you relate to Native Americans. If only a little bit. I know this is a fiction but it felt very real.

I had to read this book for my comp. lit class, and I am very glad to have had the chance. Throughout the stories, the location of hope and hopelessness on the reservation is made apparent, and while in general there is much poverty and degeneration described within the community, the narrators of the stories within Alexie's novel bring hope and a human touch to the experience.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie, had to be the most confusing book that I've ever read. It's strange but in the end I really liked it. The stories were so well written and had a flow to each of them even though I still can't tell what the connections were between the characters from one story to another besides the whole being Native American thing. The characters in each story had different outlooks on life and on how to survive and just live. The first chapter "Every Little Hurricane", was this mix of emotions seen from the surroundings of a little kid. The whole basis for what he saw had to do with alcoholism. He first ignored it than accepted it and just dealt. That's not something that you see in someone so young. He shouldn't have had to accept it but than again that was his life and nothing could be changed. Two of the of the stories that I think were best connected was "Family Portrait" and "Because My Father Always Said...". The first went on about creating images in mind that reflect and show the people in your past. The second story actually did this. It showed a boy's images of his father after his father left him and his mother. They were never negative images just the best memories that he could think up. I think that most people can relate to that. This book was on e of the best I've read all year. The stories captured your attention as you realized that you sometimes feel just the same way as the character in the story. A lot of the stories came off as being long poems because of the way the author wrote them they just flowed so well. Some stories weren't as captivating as others but I enjoyed the book as a whole.

Alexie's stories wedge themselves into your psyche and force you to think and care about the Indian culture in America today. It's been a long time since I read Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony", but it also had that effect only in the form of a novel.

This book is a must have for anyone who loves a story where the words roll right off the page. Wonderful stories that can only be amplified by watching Smoke Signals which is based on this collection. A friend turned me onto alexie and now I'll be buying it all up.

This collection is a touching look at what life in Indian country can be like. Smart and touching, it was one of those books that was impossible to put down, and left me feeling like I knew the characters. A must read!

I found this book to have interesting parts but it was pretty confusing and thats why i put a question mark for the title. If the book had one focused theme or if the author made it easier for you to be able to tell who the narrator is it would have been a much more understood book and easier. The author would give good detailed conversations. Such as when they took a drug and they were describing what they saw. It made the reader seem as if he was right there listening to the conversation. The author could have been a little more thoughtful of how well the reader would understand the book. He had no central plot and and it kind of seemed more like some type of a documentary were they just record daily, what the characters do. Overall it was an ok book, but it could have been reader friendly and have some type of theme or plot that sticks out more boldly.

Alexie's prose is brilliant...rich with imagery and the seamless integration of memory...this book is beautiful. The stories can be very dense and full and while I enjoy and understand them on one level, I look forward to re-reading them and gaining a deeper understanding of Native struggles - with whites, with each other, with alcohol, and with tradition. This book is not a re-telling of the movie that was based on it - "Smoke Signals" - but a very different collection of stories that hold within themselves very important lessons.

This book made me want to be a writer. No one mixes humor and melancholy quite like Alexie does. I think it's groundbreaking in that Alexie shows what it's like to be a young person of color in contemporary times, as the experiences of characters in the LRATFIN ring true for blacks, Latinos and members of other ethnic minority groups. Yes, we have our Toni Morrisons and our Louise Erdrichs, but this books shows what it's like to be a young person of color in a "white" world in the here and now. I also love the elements of "magical realism" in the collection. The Shermanator rules!

It was simple in text yet filled with symbolism through out. The book itself was complex in the way that each story was connected to give you in the end one long story. The story of a people living on a reservation, wanting to get out, yet terrified to leave, humanity being the ultimate protagnist in this book.

I thought the book was good to pass the time in the car between Wisconsin and Chicago, but it's not the best book I've ever read. The stories seem to be in random order - you could read them in reverse order and it wouldn't make any difference. The shifting viewpoints can be powerful when used in moderation - this time, it wasn't. It just got confusing. (FYI: This is one of the few times where the movie is better than the book.)

I have to confess that I bought the book because of the cute title. I expected it to be humorous. I was wrong. This collection of short stories about life on the reservation was so depressing that I could hardly finish it. The author is famous, and each story is well-crafted. However, each one is sad. Do Indians ever have a happy ending?

I was confused the first time I had read the book as to the connection of the stories but became clearer the second. This book a big eye opener to those of us who are uniformed of the Native American culture. I found myself wading in various feelings throughout and even began laughing out loud at times. I have suggested this book to several others.

This book haunts me. I have read this book three times, and reading the reviews of it here has made me want to read it again. There is something mystical about this book. Something almost sacred about it.

I rated this book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto FistFight in Heaven, two stars. It wasn't very interesting and I couldn't really connect with words. Few of the chapters left me confused and pondering. This book consisted of twenty-three different tales each relating about Indians. The main points that were established throughout the book were about how Indians got discriminated against by whites. Another point made about Indians was how they overcame their sorrows by drinking, telling stories, and trying to have a good time while living on the reservation. But overall the author does make some good points and analogies about Indians' struggle to make it in the world. I just felt it could've been better.

This book is true about what happens on the rez in a young natives life and I think most natives would agree with me the drunk fights the parties the drugs thats what I like about the book its not non of that dumb harry potter [stuff] its based on indian life and if your looking for somthing real not non of that hockas pokas [stuff] then read this book thats all I got to say about this book

A fantastic contemporary look at life for Native American descendents. An excellent book. One I highly recommend. Deep and passionate with a fine line of humor that sometimes had me laughing out loud.. It is a very realistic book with very well written stories. I also recommend: Ceremony and My Fractured Life.

"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven", by Sherman Alexie, is incredible collection of short stories. Alexie amazes me with fantastic prose. He skillfully weaves realism and idealism to construct a bluntly ironic scene of the lives of the Spokane Indians. This book is for anyone who enjoys stark humor.

This is an amazing book. Alexie's characters fit perfectly into this tale of life on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Humorous and dark at the same time. A great read for anyone even if you know nothing of reservation life

Alexie captures the delicate balance of humor and anger that is present in everyday life for Indians on and off the "Res." This young man has shown a great aptitude for the short story, as well as poetry and the novel. I look forward to reading more

I read this book, expecting it to be exactly like "Smoke Signals", it wasn't but I still enjoyed it. His writing style inspired me to take a look at my own, and change it around a little bit, as a result, my fiction writing couldn't be better!

I was originally required to read this book for my English class, but I ended up really enjoying it. Sherman Alexie is an outstanding author and I plan on reading more of his work. I think everyone should read it!!

For the last six weeks I've been reading Sherman Alexie's books, and by and large I've really enjoyed them. But this one left me cold. It's about a bunch of Indians living in Washington state, and most of them are going-nowhere losers with no interesting story to tell. As I read about the worthless alcoholics and drifters and losers, I kept wondering why Alexie was subjecting us to these pathetic people. I read a story of his called "The Search Engine," which was about a clever Indian girl who is going to college and is on track to make something of her life. So Alexie knows how to write about interesting people. But in this early collection the people are useless and not worth your time. There was only one character who intrigued me, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, who has a vision for himself and what he wants to be. Victor is a throwaway with no future, and many of the stories focus on him. I kept hoping these characters would get their lives together and DO something, but they seldom do. I finished this collection scratching my head, wondering what Alexie's point was. That Indians live going-nowhere lives? That a certain percentage of Indians will be utterly worthless? That applies to whites as well, and I've already read about white losers, so reading about Indian losers doesn't really educate me. I'll stick to Alexie's more recent stories, which have far more interesting characters in them. I suspect that Victor was Alexie's alter ego, the person Alexie was afraid he'd become if this writing thing didn't work out. Now that Alexie got himself together a good life, he wants to write about other Indians with good lives. I wholeheartedly support this change in his subject matter. I want to read about Indians who have it on the ball, not losers who will never amount to anything. More Indians like Corliss and Harlan Atwater, and fewer like Victor!

Throughout the course of the book, many characters and plots arose making it very difficult to follow the plot. Although it was funny and sad at times, it didn't flow enough for me to make any connection with earlier events that took place in the book. However, I also feel a different approcah to writing was experimented because there were many "unexpected and impossible-to-anticipate moves." The book started off talking about Victor and Thomas Builds-the-fire as younger children but then goes into many different scenes and characters. These new characters that were introduced such as Rosemary MorningDove, Frank Many Horses, and Lester FallsApart made it hard for me to connect back to Victor. The one thing that I did observe from the book was the distances between the Indians and Whites, males and females, and the many different Indian tribes. I was fascinated by how so many connections were made with the Indian's traditions of the past and what was going on in the modern times with the Indians. I was highly disappointed in that it wasn't one of those books that I was anxious to see what would happen next. I found myself going back through material that I had previously read and trying to analyze the events of the next scene or chapter. However, I am glad i took the time out to read it beacause it was very different kind of reading material than what I was used to.

After reading this book The Lone Ranger and Tont Fist Fight in Heaven, I found it to be very racist and discriminatory towards whites.It shows how some whites are discriminatory towards Indians also and this makes me feel very sad to know that ther are still tensions between the races today. It did have a lot of good stories in it though and it hold my attention from the begining tto the end.

if so many people write reviews of this book that are really so amazingly long then this book surely must be good or at least full of enough something to make people passionate. and stick the landing, perfect four outta four from this angle.

You may learn something about Native Americans from the northwestern part of the United States, in this book. It is notably easy reading, sometimes a bit slow of pace.

Mr. Alexie writes in a sort of lazy manner, maybe reflective of his cultural background. These short stories about himself and his fellows, and their relationships to other people in Spokane, Seattle, and in other cities and towns in the state of Washington, are somewhat interesting, in an offhanded way.

The picture painted by Alexie is one of desuetude among these Native Americans. They are generally poor, dependent upon the government for many survival needs, tending toward alcoholism or drug addiction, and not well educated.

The major emotion all this aroused in me was pity, and maybe that's what Alexie was aiming for? I don't think he was trying to elicit pride, or even cultural interest.

Anyway, it won't hurt you to read this book. It goes real fast and you may learn a little bit about a small population formerly unfamiliar to you, except through brief descriptions by others.

Diximus.

The only reason we bought this book was that it was mandatory summer reading for my daughter's high school. It is filled with bad language that we don't use, nor do we like to hear. It was hard to get past the constant use of the f bomb to appreciate the content of the author's writing. I suppose the rest of the world is used to hearing and talking this way, but my daughter was turned off by it. If that language doesn't bother you, then please ignore my review :-).

This book portrays the real life of Native Americans on a reservation. This book could be taught at the college level due to the symbolism and tough issues that are dealt with while reading the book. It is a series of short stories that are based partially off events that took place in the author's life. Some tough issues are dealt with throughout the book. This book deals with alcoholism, absence of role models, poverty, and broken dreams. Some background on Native Americans and reservations would need to be taught before teaching this book. Also, there would have to be a lesson on symbolism. This book is very deep and the any grade level lower than the college level might not understand the impact of the short stories. Victor, the main character, is a great strength in this novel. A strong character analysis could be done on his life and what he has had to go through in order to grow up on the reservation. Great discussions could be based on his actions throughout the novel. Some may favor his actions while other may have strong feelings against his behaviors. It is a challenging read that forces the reader to be open minded and understanding of different cultures, traditions, and lifestyles. One of the negative parts of the book was the use of language. There were numerous swear words that took away from the understanding of the story. The language that was used was too rough and not used appropriately. It took away from the dramatic story line

Tonto and Lone Ranger Fist Fight in heaven
Before I even picked up this book I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy it. I am the kind of person who either likes to read Mark Twain, John Steinbeck or newer novels that have more of a plot with some action involved. I knew that this book was not going to be anything that could hold my attention for more than a few pages. I did not like this book very much because it was rather dull. The begining started off with a lot of swearing and fist fighting that left the reader a little mift as to were the book was going take me. It wasnt clear whos' story the book was. by that I mean it was confusing if the book was mainly focused around Victor, Jr, or Thomas within the first few stories. As the book progressed the Sherman Alexie managed to bore me even more by basing all his stories around the mistreetment of the indians. He even makes his book worse by not giving it a plot. The only interesting short story he wrote was distances because it was so obscure...

My son was required to read this book for his freshman high school class. It is full of the f-word and other foul language. It also is replete with drugs, binge drinking, and overt sexual situations among teens. I am totally mystified as to why this book is taught in schools AT ALL! It sends mixed messages to teens, who are very vulnerable to such powerful imagery and may be influenced by it. Why fill our children's minds with garbage when there are so many brilliant and inspiring books to choose from?