Book Review: Sherman Alexie's Face
Book Review: Sherman Alexie's Face by Denise Burch
Face (Hanging Loose Press, 2009), the most recent poetry book by Sherman Alexie, is a sometimes strange, sometimes tender, usually funny, always interesting journey through his thought processes: ruminations on such topics as birds, fatherhood, and life on the rez are laid out in a uniquely melodic style.
Alexie dedicates Face to his sons and his father, and his roles as both a father and a son himself play heavily in this collection of poems. Tales of drinking and diabetes, potty-training and reading lights, alternate with musings on Mount Rushmore, nudity, and March Madness. The Native American reverence for the animal kingdom is evident in the numerous appearances of avian symbolism, especially when Alexie is exploring father-son relationships in "On the Second Anniversary of My Father's Death" and "Avian Nights," a couple of standouts.
Throughout the four parts of Face (War Stories, Tuxedo with Eagle Feathers, Size Matters, and Ten Thousand Fathers) Native American legends combine with topical references to Google, iTunes, and cage fighter Urijah Faber to form a deceptively simple method of storytelling: the nuances of rhyme and humor are not always obvious at the first reading. Poems like "Vilify" and "Song Son Blue" make liberal use of footnotes, and "Inappropriate" is a hybrid of poetry, short story, dream, and memoir. "Thrash" is a fitting epic with which to end the book- twenty-one parts of sex, penises, and religion. Alexie plays with convention, veering from staccato bursts to languid, flowing prose to create his own style-- humorous, thoughtful, and emotional.
Face is a triumphant showcase for Sherman Alexie's wit and wry humor, in addition to a deeper, softer style when writing of familial matters and relationships. It is a long, strange trip at times, and one that’s worth the ride.
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