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I just finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. It had been nominated for the book club some time back and I thought it sounded interesting, and now I wish it had been selected for discussion because I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I didn't seem to be enjoying myself very much, but the (relatively short) book vanished in just three sittings so it must have done something right. It has a lot of funny lines, but is quite a serious book, discussing racism, alcoholism among Native Americans, and definition of self (amongst other things). But it's all quite blunt, coarse even. Not much subtlety and little elegance except, arguably, in the included sketches by Ellen Forney (incidentally, these worked remarkably well in ebook/e-ink display). I ended up giving it a 3/5 mostly because I can't see myself ever picking it up to re-read it (which is what it takes to get a 4/5 from me).
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