Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Alexie, Sherman (Vol. 96) - Brian Schneider (review date Fall 1993)

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

Brian Schneider (review date Fall 1993)

SOURCE: A review of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, in The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. 13, No. 3, Fall, 1993, pp. 237-38.

[In the following review of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Schneider briefly examines Alexie's narrative voice.]

Each of the twenty-two stories in Sherman Alexie's collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven examines the modern problems and contradictions of reservation life. Most of the stories are situated on the Spokane Indian Reservation, which Alexie's lyrical voice describes through stories that examine not only the real problems of alcoholism or unemployment but also happier moments: romance, basketball, and dancing. Alexie's voice is strongest when the real problems collide with the lighter moments—in these instances his prose is brutally honest and depicts the horrible strains of poverty,...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Alex Kuo (essay date 1992)
   2. Publishers Weekly (review date 1 February 1993)
   3. The New Yorker (essay date 10 May 1993)
   4. Sybil S. Steinberg (review date 19 July 1993)
   5. Andrea-Bess Baxter (review date August 1993)
   6. Brian Schneider (review date Fall 1993)
   7. Reynolds Price (review date 17 October 1993)
   8. Anne Goodwin Sides (review date 17 October 1993)
   9. Publishers Weekly (review date 8 November 1993)
   10. Frank Allen (review date 15 November 1993)
   11. Joseph Bruchac (review date Winter 1994)
   12. Alan R. Velie (review date Spring 1994)
   13. James Beschta (review date May 1994)
   14. Carl L. Bankston III (review date May-June 1994)
   15. Andrea-Bess Baxter (review date November 1994)
   16. Leslie Marmon Silko (review date 12 June 1995)
   17. Frederick Busch (review date 16 July 1995)
   18. Abigail Davis (review date July-August 1995)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright

1. Sherman Alexie