Description: Adrian C. Louis's largely autobiographical verse is characterized by a bluntness born of self-irony and self-criticism. He attacks his subjects with an emotional engagement that is both tender and honest. Within the context of fallen ideals and lost spirituality among Native Americans, he composes elegies for his mentally disabled wife and describes scenes from "Cowturdville", his name for the town near a reservation where he lived. Mesmerizing the reader with the rhythm of his lively lines, Louis demonstrates a stylistic strength that is both accessible and demanding. His candid portrayals of Native American life and his social and moral critique of American consumerism and conformity are darkly hilarious odes to the cultural boundaries between Americans and Native Americans.
Review Quotes: "Mr. Louis is one of the few poets working in the United States of whom I would be brave enough to say is endowed with what Lorca called Duende. That rare, single, solitary, and powerful entity that makes of his poems masterpieces because they cut straight to the heart." --Virgil Suárez, author of Palm Crows