Good Reads / Community Library Notes
There, There
Tommy Orange
Review by Priscilla Comen
There, There
Tommy Orange
Review by Priscilla Comen
There, There, by Tommy Orange, is the sad saga of Native Americans who live in Oakland. This is the place about which Gertrude Stein said, “There is no there there.” Author Orange tells the stories of several people, including Dene Oyendene and Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield. Opal Victoria goes with her mother to Alcatraz Island because the native Americans wanted to call attention to the countless treaties that were broken by the U.S. Government and demand recompense for them. But the plan does not work. Alcatraz is dirty, over-crowded and gross. Victoria wants to go back to Oakland. Will she?
There’s also Edwin Black. He’s hugely fat, and hasn't defecated for six days. He looks for his real father on his computer. Does he find the tribe he and his father belong to? His mother locates a job for him. Will Edwin succeed? His mother, Karen, has a boyfriend, Bill, who works as a janitor at the Oakland A’s baseball field. He sees a drone fly above the field before he leaves. Why is the drone there?
Calvin Johnson owes money for the weed he’s been smoking. His big brother takes him to Octavio’s house to get him to pay. They talk about robbing the big Powwow that’s about to happen at the A's baseball field. There will be $50,000 in prize money there. Jacquie Red Feather is a suicide abuse counselor who will attend the conference. Author Orange brings these characters together in a creative way. When Jacquie goes to an AA meeting in a hotel, the leader of the group is Harvey who raped her on Alcatraz Island when she was seventeen. After her speech, he apologizes, and urges her to come to Oakland with him to search for their daughter, whom she had given up for adoption at birth. Harvey confesses that he has a son who found him on the Internet. It is Edwin Black.
Going to the Powwow are Tony, Orvil, and his brother, and Blue with her friend Edwin. Dene Oyendene is going to record interviews with real people. Orvil will dance in his Indian regalia. How will the Pow wow change their lives? What will happen there? Does Edwin meet his father? Does Blue see her mother? Everyone is in Indian dress so it’s hard to tell.
Author Orange writes with compassion and empathy. Find this excellent book about unusual characters and our neighbor city of Oakland on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
There’s also Edwin Black. He’s hugely fat, and hasn't defecated for six days. He looks for his real father on his computer. Does he find the tribe he and his father belong to? His mother locates a job for him. Will Edwin succeed? His mother, Karen, has a boyfriend, Bill, who works as a janitor at the Oakland A’s baseball field. He sees a drone fly above the field before he leaves. Why is the drone there?
Calvin Johnson owes money for the weed he’s been smoking. His big brother takes him to Octavio’s house to get him to pay. They talk about robbing the big Powwow that’s about to happen at the A's baseball field. There will be $50,000 in prize money there. Jacquie Red Feather is a suicide abuse counselor who will attend the conference. Author Orange brings these characters together in a creative way. When Jacquie goes to an AA meeting in a hotel, the leader of the group is Harvey who raped her on Alcatraz Island when she was seventeen. After her speech, he apologizes, and urges her to come to Oakland with him to search for their daughter, whom she had given up for adoption at birth. Harvey confesses that he has a son who found him on the Internet. It is Edwin Black.
Going to the Powwow are Tony, Orvil, and his brother, and Blue with her friend Edwin. Dene Oyendene is going to record interviews with real people. Orvil will dance in his Indian regalia. How will the Pow wow change their lives? What will happen there? Does Edwin meet his father? Does Blue see her mother? Everyone is in Indian dress so it’s hard to tell.
Author Orange writes with compassion and empathy. Find this excellent book about unusual characters and our neighbor city of Oakland on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.