Python’s Kiss

Fiction

Sep 29

About the book

Author: Louise Erdrich
Publisher: Harper

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print or ebook) | Libro.fm (audio)

My review

I’m not always a huge fan of short story collections that bring together a bunch of stories that were published in various publications over the course of many years; I prefer the type of collection that is intentionally crafted around a theme. And yet I found myself really enjoying this one, despite — because of? — the fact that all these stories were so different. It’s a testament to Erdrich’s talent, plus her career’s focus on similar (resonant and enduring) themes.

For example, you have an old Western-style manhunt sitting alongside a story about a woman who chooses to leave her disabled body behind and upload her consciousness into the most prestigious (read: expensive) virtual afterlife. Plus a story where a woman reminisces about her four fraught experiences with marriage as her niece complements the wedding dresses in her closet. And a story about a school bus driver who gets caught in a white-out blizzard (or does he?) with an uncanny child in the back. There’s so much range, but an enduring sense of deep emotion and exploration of what it is to be Native American, (often) what it is to be a woman, what it is to yearn.

Book Riot said, “If you have read Louise Erdrich, you know that her signature blend of the sacred, the mundane, and the mythic is unlike anything else in contemporary fiction.” I couldn’t agree more.

Finally, I will say that these stories worked very well on audiobook, but don’t miss the beautiful and haunting illustrations that Erdrich’s daughter created for each story! Either get yourself a print copy from the library from which to admire them or make sure you can access the PDF that comes with the audiobook.