Skins - Hardcover

Louis, Adrian

3.93

147 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517799588 ISBN 13: 9780517799581

Publisher: Crown, 1995

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Rudy Yellow Shirt, a full-blooded Oglala Sioux and a criminal investigator with the Pine Ridge Public Safety Department, spends most nights locking up drunk and disorderly Indians, frequently including his own ciye, his older brother Mogie. They live on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the home of Crazy Horse's tribe, where the Indian wars ended with the massacre at Wounded Knee, and where so many Oglala people try to maintain their ancient dignity while living on welfare checks and cans of surplus commodity foods distributed by the government. But when Rudy falls and hits his head on a rock, the spirit of Iktomi, the trickster, starts messing with his life.

Soon Rudy finds himself taking on the alter ego of the Avenging Warrior and dispensing swift vigilante justice to unlucky criminals. Then, one night, the Warrior decides to fire-bomb one of the liquor stores that hug the border of the reservation, and Iktomi plays his most diabolical trick, starting a chain of events that will change Rudy and Mogie's relationship forever.

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From the Back Cover:

Praise for Adrian Louis's

"Adrian C. Louis has written a violent and dangerous book about twentieth-century Sioux Indians. This first novel is a complex portrait of racism and brotherhood, sexism and affection, murder and redemption, alcoholism and laughter. These are not the simple Sioux of Dances with Wolves. These are not 'Native' Americans. These are Indians (yes, Indians) living, dying, and loving on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Skins is about the love between brothers, men and women, parents and children. Believe me, despite all the pain and because of the pain, this is a love story."

Sherman Alexie, author of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

"This is a fierce first novel, set not far from Wounded Knee -- in the whirlwind of destruction set off by the collision of cultures. In this place are all manner of hellish tests, linked with a wicked humor. The telling is honest and stark, perfect for this raw and powerful tale."

Joy Harjo, author of The Woman Who Fell From the Sky

"Long a much-respected, important poet, Adrian Louis has turned his hand to novel writing -- and he does it with a bang. Skins will cause some ripples, both on and off the rez. It is a wonderfully written novel, filled with great characters, savvy humor, and true compassion. Adrian Louis is one of those writers we wait for and, believe me, he doesn't disappoint."

James Welch, author of Killing Custer, Fools Crow, and Winter in the Blood

About the Author:

Adrian C. Louis is an enrolled member of the Lovelock Paiute Indian Tribe and was born and raised in Nevada. He is the former managing editor of the Lakota Times, the largest American Indian newspaper in the country. Since 1984 he has taught English at Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota. He has written several books of poems, including Fire Water World, honored by the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University as the best book of poems of 1989. He has received fellowships from the Wurlitzer Foundation, the South Dakota Arts Council, the Bush Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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