THE MOCCASIN TELEGRAPH And Other Stories

by W.P. Kinsella ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 16, 1984

Kinsella (Shoeless Joe) has, in Canada, published four collections of stories set, like this one, in the Cree Indian reserve town of Hobbema, Alberta. Here, the same basic cast of characters revolves through all the stories: Silas Ermineskin is the writer/narrator; there's a merry prankster and put-on artist in Frank Fencepost; and Chief Tom is an ""apple""--red outside, white in. The general tone throughout is tuned to the comic. And the general pattern of action is the escapade. The standouts: Frank and Silas, in ""Where The Wild Things Are,"" pose as guides to two Alabama hunters willing to employ any Indian; and in ""Fugitives,"" an escaped Indian movement leader is kept safe under the assumed identity of an East Indian name and turban. In these two tales, the underlying bitterness is played down: ""We found out a long time ago that if we tell the Government the truth no matter how simple the question, they find a way to either charge us money or take away something that already belongs to us."" The anger is translated into resistance of a mischievously amoral sort (shoplifting, a.k.a. ""creative borrowing"" or ""five finger bargains"") as well as self-parody (the AIM movement is referred to as ""Assholes In Moccasins""). On the other hand, however, many of the stories are soggily sentimental or forcedly winsome, à la lesser Saroyan. And though the discrepancy between the hopeless reality of the reserve life and the bantering tone of its denizens is intriguing for a while, it eventually reduces to a rigid formula. In sum: bittersweet, half-appealing, repetitions capers.

Pub Date: July 16, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Godine

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION