Bad Indians Book Club
Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds
Bad Indians Book Club, Patty Krawec’s compelling work of literary criticism, centers stories written by marginalized people.
Focused on Indigenous culture and showing that reading is essential and that addressing the hard truths of history is a necessity, this is a book about colonization, community, and their ties to, and reflections in, modern and historical literature. It examines works including Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and a book about the Salem witch trials. Science, traditional medicine, and Anishinaabe origin stories are incorporated in a flowing and accessible manner, while challenging subjects including race and historical trauma are handled in a reflective, careful way.
Each essay is multidisciplinary. In one, patriarchy and gender roles are discussed; Krawec digs into the “us but not you” concept and includes references to alternative forms of feminism, referencing indigenísta feminism and the kyriarchy. Historical factors including enslavement are untangled amid references to media like Reservation Dogs.
Stories about Kwe, a girl whose body merges with that of a fawn, are included after each essay, too. As Kwe navigates colonization, she is pushed into traumatic situations, like an attempted assault outside her place of work. After an unexpected death is revealed, Kwe reflects: “The gunpowder and violence I associated with it crowded my memories, a trail of smoke leading to an old story.” And throughout, Krawec interweaves her personal stories with those of fellow authors to encourage reassessments of normalized but faulty beliefs, as with the idea of “Bad Indians” who don’t follow the path of colonization.
A detailed and exploratory work of literary criticism, Bad Indians Book Club examines culture and colonization through a multitude of written works.
Reviewed by
Jennifer Maveety
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
