In the second episode of their Western season, Nathanael and Erik discuss Sherman Alexie's short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven as well as Alexie's adaptation of his own work in Smoke Signals. As the second installment of the season, they consider how a contemporary collection centered around the Spokane Indian Reservation responds to the American Western mythos. Topics include the bildungsroman and Alexie's adoption of it to Native American boyhood, oral storytelling in traditional and modern settings, and community-as-character.
Show notes: