![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() What is most skillful throughout is how Hokeah draws readers to Ever, even when Ever is only seen from the periphery. There’s the Army vet with a Purple Heart, recently diagnosed with cirrhosis in its final stage, trying to get sober so he can teach his grandsons a traditional Kiowa dance the young men who wait for their per capita checks so they can waste it all on liquor and crank the woman who is four months pregnant by an absent man named Tank and who eventually gives birth to a premature baby with no lungs. ![]() Hokeah’s characters are drawn with such precision and pathos one can forgive some narrators’ meandering (and at times, repetitive) loquacity. Though officially billed as a novel, the narrative structure feels reminiscent of books that blur the line between novel and story collection, like “Olive Kitteridge” and “A Visit From the Goon Squad.” The result is a kaleidoscopic bildungsroman set against the backdrop of rural Oklahoma. The book showcases five decades of Ever’s life, presented from 12 different vantage points, ranging from Ever’s grandmother to his adopted son. This is how Oscar Hokeah’s devastating debut, CALLING FOR A BLANKET DANCE (258 pp., Algonquin, $27), begins. When Ever is only 6 months old, a group of police officers beat his father for refusing to pay a bribe, leaving him with permanent kidney damage. ![]()
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