Ledfeather by Stephen Graham Jones

This is an engrossing, fast moving read in an uncommon narration style, seemingly disjointed, that is at times maddening, shocking, and revealing, with a touch of tenderness. The surface reader will likely miss a good deal, even possibly give up in not seeing the thread of the story. On the other hand, the thoughtful reader, keeping the characters and time shifts straight in their mind, will gain much as the story sorts itself out.

One specific aspect, relative to my familiarity with the general setting, is that I found that the author captured the voices and thought trains of the characters fittingly. Another aspect, hand in hand, that I appreciated, is the characters are not paper cutouts.

I especially liked how honest the portrayal is, including, but not limited to, the ample cultural depictions that will infuriate the horse-blinkered among us. An example being our hypocritical Western (Christian) culture's perspective of many Native Americans:

“... the Piegan (Blackfoot: Piikáni) have no real sense of personal property, are not possessed of the proper amount of greed necessary to cultivate civilization.”

which reminds me of:

“Success, like war and like charity in religion, covers a multitude of sins.” ~ Sir Charles Napier

Granted, I'm not a champion of our culture that in its pleonexia is leading us to an abyss.

“The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think. ” [Edwin Schlossberg]; which this book delivers. ( )