Reading Vicariously

Every since reading the multigenerational saga Homegoing I’ve been looking for more epic-scale books that span generations/centuries. I also really enjoy books that bounce between a multitude of various perspectives, such as Tommy Orange’s There There. So I was already onboard with the synopsis for Calling for a Blanket Dance, except for one detail.

Oscar Hokeah’s debut novel is ostensibly about a baby/kid/teen/adult named Ever, and yet the majority of the book is told through the first-person POV of his family and relatives. He doesn’t even get his own chapter until the very end! Going in I had some misgivings about how well this would work, but thankfully this masterfully written multi-narrative exceeded all my expectations!

The fact that we get a variety of voices – grandparents, uncles, cousins, children, and so on – really drew me into the world of this family. It was really neat to learn about their individual experiences, but also how interwoven they all are as well. Getting to see Ever through many different eyes is such a cool way to explore his character but also to see how an entire community tries to rally around someone. I feel like I grew up alongside Ever while simultaneously living in the heads of his relatives. By the end of the book I knew the Geimausaddle family on a deep, personal level. I cried through their struggles and rejoiced in their triumphs right along with them.

Be warned that this is an incredibly tough read. At one point towards the end I asked out loud, “Does every story have to be sad??”. But it’s also my opinion that sad stories are the best stories because they are heartbreakingly realistic, full of broken people doing broken things. There is pain, misery, and anguish etched on these pages, but there are also threads of hope and strength-in-community that run throughout as well. The characters are vulnerable and real and fully developed, which is impressive considered they only get one chapter each (though they continue to be fleshed out here and there through the eyes of other characters).

It’s also to Hokeah’s credit as a writer that we get so many different narrators and they ALL sound unique! I hope to attend a workshop he’s doing on “finding literary voice through regionalism” to learn how he developed Kiowa-specific and Cherokee-specific voices, “taking into account cultural and community nuances and influences from regional dialects”.

The narrative structure, the depth of character building, and the storytelling voice have cemented this book as one of my all-time favorites! And this is a debut?? Can’t wait for more from Mr. Hokeah. 

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CALLING FOR A BLANKET DANCE is available now from Algonquin Books. If you’re interested in buying a copy of the book, go HERE. If you read it, even if you didn’t love it, please leave a review on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. It really goes a long way in helping the author’s gain exposure/future readers!

About the Author

Oscar Hokeah holds an M.A. in English from the University of Oklahoma, with a concentration in Native American Literature. He also holds a B.F.A. in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), with a minor in Indigenous Liberal Studies. He is the winner of the 2023 PEN/Hemingway Award, a recipient of the Truman Capote Scholarship Award through IAIA, and a winner of the Native Writer Award through the Taos Summer Writers Conference. Hokeah has written for Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, World Literature Today, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere.

Oscar Hokeah is a regionalist Native American writer of literary fiction, interested in capturing intertribal, transnational, and multicultural aspects within two tribally specific communities: Tahlequah and Lawton, Oklahoma.  He was raised inside these tribal circles and continues to reside there today. He is a citizen of Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma from his mother (Hokeah and Stopp families), and he has Mexican heritage from his father (Chavez family) who emigrated from Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico.

If you want to learn more about Oscar and his work then check out his website and follow him on social media.