“Powerful. . . . a revelation.” —The New York Times “With a literary authority rare in a debut novel, it places Native American voices front and center before readers’ eyes.” —NPR/Fresh Air One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year and winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, Tommy Orange’s wondrous and shattering bestselling novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all … follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and unflinching, utterly contemporary and truly unforgettable.
One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post, NPR, Time, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Dallas Morning News, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe
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Indian, American Indian, Native American, Indigenous Americans: A community living within the urban society built over the land they cherish. A collection of stories passed down through the generations, ensuring their history is not forgotten. A powwow to gather those from different tribes to celebrate each other and their traditions.
In Tommy Orange’s “There There”, the reader is taken on an expedition revealing a web of connection. Engaged through the inner workings of twelve-character views to uncover the insight that we are all interrelated. Tommy’s writing brings the phrase “a small world” in to a new light, illuminating parallels in us all.
Although an intriguing storyline, the numerous character views was difficult to follow. A constant addition of characters along with an ever-changing timeline was confusing. In addition, the reader is left with unanswered questions due to the abrupt ending. Plus, with an abundance of profanity, a rating of 3 out of 5 stars is awarded.
Furthermore, numerous triggers from genocide, rape, suicide, drug use, alcoholism, birth defects, mass shootings, physical abuse, and racism are mentioned. Please take caution if any of these may elicit a negative reaction.
Recommended for anyone interested in learning more about Native Americans and how they have adapted. Overall, a difficult read; but an interesting glimpse into the Urban Indian community around today.
From the very start, this story sucked you in. Told throughout multiple voices following different individuals, each story ends up winding together in a gut-wrenching, raw, emotional ending.
What I greatly enjoyed about it, is how each person showcased their own personal struggles in such a unique way. Every voice held its own style and powerful narration. And the ending…
It was incredible.
What a book! Tommy Orange captures the people, the times, and what drives us… in this hard hitting story that jumps all over and brings it all right back together… and all this through the eyes of the many Native American characters living in Oakland, CA.
The culmination of voices and their burning message are unforgettably poetic and wrapped together as a helix. Tommy Orange is a writer of beautiful capacity—and force. As one of the many “thirty-seconds, insignificant remainders” of native blood, I applaud Orange’s raw, fist swinging prose and eagerly await his next.
I didn’t enjoy this book. It was too dry.
I read a number of NA books, many historical, so I liked getting the urban Indian viewpoint. As with so many of the stories, the tragedies are almost overwhelming, but there is some hope there and magical synchronicity. It left me wanting more at the end though.
An exquisitely-written book featuring an ensemble cast of characters so richly developed, you can see their every pore and feel their every pain.
This is an awesome book. I have read it twice and watched an interview with Tommy Orange through UCSC. Stories are presented individually and intertwine in surprising ways by the end. Excellent Prologue and Interlude with powerful historic representations specific to Native Americans. I really enjoyed the modern stories and that it is set in the Bay Area where I spent a lot of my life. Connections abound.
Great book for learning more about the Native American experience in urban life, and fantastic characters that are easy to sympathize with. The ending was sort-of a non-ending, which is why I didn’t rate it at 5 stars, but it is still an enjoyable read.
There, There is truly an original novel about Native Americans in a modern urban setting. An assortment of unique characters are linked by an upcoming pow-wow event in Oakland, CA. A plot to rob the prize money unfolds. Stereotypes of Indians are replaced with often tragic, sometimes quirky and always human portrayals of modern Native people. This is a talented author and a worthwhile read.
A challenging read… tough to take in spots but always deeply touching.
A very good book about today’s Native Americans and their pow wows. Not a flattering picture of Oakland.
I usually finish all books that I start. This book was awful.
So beautifully written–this book will stay with me for a long time. A must-read.
Trying to find the words to describe this book. I’ve heard people say that the many characters are hard to follow, and they are, but the realities they have and the way their lives are interconnected is the main idea, I think. It hurts to read and it hurts a while after, but there is also a sliver hope. A very eye opening look into the realitany face.
I have a review for this web site this shit wasn’t free fuck you
The author’s writing style is gripping and authentic. The story tugs on the heart and I’m glad it got told. Brilliant read! You won’t regret it.
I quailed a bit when I read in the author bio that Tommy Orange “is a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts”; an MFA is more likely to certify a certain precious type of writing than a true master of anything. And sure enough, there are epigrams from Brecht, Baudelaire, Genet and others, and one of the sections is, for no evident reason, written in the second person. (“You walk outside your studio apartment to a hot Oakland summer day…”) The MFA touch is evident.
The good news is that in spite of that, it’s a pretty good book.
This novel gives a voice to a people most of us give no thought to: the descendants of the defeated and displaced Indians of history and cinematic cliche. No, they don’t all live on reservations. A lot of them live in cities like Oakland, and in a lot of ways they’re pretty much like the rest of us. Through the intertwined stories of twelve characters, Orange demystifies the Native American experience while confronting us with the legacies of a tragic history. Starting with the experiences of two sisters during the Indian occupation of Alcatraz in 1971, he traces the fates of his characters up through the present-day organization of a huge powwow at the Oakland Coliseum, where the strands of the story converge, tragically.
Along the way we see a lot of sad family history and personal struggle; there is also an undercurrent of deeply felt rage. Orange’s characters don’t dwell on the way Indians were displaced, dispossessed and massacred; they’re too busy working, hustling, raising kids, being twenty-first century Americans. But Orange isn’t about to let us forget it. He provides the history in an introductory section and then just lets us watch as his people do what people do when they are striving to overcome economic and social disadvantage. The great thing about the book is this dual effect of showing us how Native Americans are just people like us while at the same time making us recall what was done to their ancestors and how that stacked the deck against the generations that followed. Recommended.
A powerfully written book about the Native American (or Native Indian, both terms are used) experience in Oakland, California. Because it is told from the POV of many characters, sometimes in first-person, sometimes in third-person, it portrays collectively the systemic effects of alcoholism, addiction, violence, and brutal historical loss. I found myself bracing for the train wreck that happens despite best intentions. The writing is often poetic, spare, lovely. Words taken out of context are never as powerful, but here are a few of my favorite lines: “A breeze came in and it felt like my arms and back were being scraped by it”; “it was something Dene had seen in his mom’s eyes, something that looked like remembering and dreading at once”; “He was twelve. It was November, so it was easy to find Indians on TV”; “But inside every kind of sound lurked a sadness. In the quiet between your parents, after a fight they both managed to lose.” Highly recommend.
I was totally engrossed in the lives of these richly drawn characters. I was left a little flat by the ending, though. It seemed as if the author had run out of steam, but there are scenes from this book that have stayed with me for a long time. I’m really glad I read it.