Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When was the last time a Native author not named Alexie or Erdrich was on the NYT Bestseller list? Tommy Orange? A debut novel? I cannot figure out what is provoking all the hoopla surrounding this mediocre first try from Mr. Orange. He is a writer of some talent, most of it unrealized here - he has potential. There are just too many characters to be given anything but a superficial treatment in the 300 pages or so allotted to them. Personality development is very shallow, and they're all messed up of course. There is such a thing as an Indian who is emotionally healthy, economically stable, and secure in his or her identity. Too boring for a novel? This shallowness is also found in the notion that this book is a great account of the "urban Indian." Nope, it isn't. Although it's true that most Native Americans live in cities and not Reservations, so many still have strong connections to the Rez: relatives are still there, growing up happened there, Reservation landscapes are essential to spirituality and identity. None of this is present in "There There." It's as though these people sprang into existence ex nihilo. They have little or no backstory. For an excellent "urban Indian" novel from a much, much better writer, read "The Hiawatha" by David Treuer. Finally, the ending of "There There" is simply bizarre, even ridiculous (spoiler alert). Some of the characters try to rob a Powwow, and for no apparent reason one of them starts shooting another, who returns fire, and in the shootout nearly all of the characters are hit. Mr. Orange prefers coyness to closure and does not indicate who lives and who dies. What's the point?