Thomas King

You'll never believe what happened! After reading several very offensive books and wading through the forums of arrogant, ignorant, and angry Indians, I was furious and no longer interested in helping or even listening any more. True, not all of the American Indian literature has been vulgar and mean, but enough of them were horrible and I was turning dark in my opinion of the American Indian's plight. Then I read the words of Thomas King.

Of the many books we have been reading thus far, "The Truth About Stories" has been one of the better ones. Much like Sherman Alexie, I do not feel like I am under attack from King. He is entertaining, professional, and does not scoff at the white people who might be reading his book. He does what he sets out to do... he tells stories about telling stories.

This book has found the middle path. Wisdom flows and I feel enlightened. I heard his words and understood the subtle and not so subtle racist things that people said to him. I felt him shoot the deer and agreed when he set the rifle down. I felt mixed about Ishi, there was both good and bad. I almost cried when he talked about Louis and how he must have felt before he shot himself. I did not feel accused by these stories. I felt as if I was along for the ride as these stories were being told.

Thomas King is a wonderful story teller. As a teller of stories myself, I can only hope to achieve the ability to touch others through stories as he has.