- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (Feb 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 006092585X
- ISBN-13: 978-0060925857
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.4 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 845,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
‘Louise Erdrich is the most interesting American novelist to have appeared in years.' Philip Roth
‘Erdrich’s prose has a compelling pulse to it. It is fluent and seductive, with the vigour and erotic potency of good rock music.’
'Sunday Times'
‘Louise Erdrich has made the psychological landscape of the dispossessed triumphantly her own. She infuses ordinary lives with surreal poetry. As comedy, tragedy and dream melt together, we float across the borderland of mythology and realism as each character is enshrined in a destiny that is at once uplifting and sad. In its empathy, its poetry and its sheer narrative power, 'The Bingo Palace' confirms Erdrich as one of the greatest composers writing today.’
'Independent on Sunday'
'An epic, haunting novel, at once uplifting and sad' Independent on Sunday
'Extraordinarily powerful… Money and love, together, are the twin driving forces that impel The Bingo Palace towards the superb tragedy of its ending.' Guardian
'The power of Louise Erdrich's writing lies in the clear access she has to her characters' thoughts and feelings, and her ability to translate those feelings into words that are both poetic and unforced. The Bingo Palace is a beautiful novel, mysterious and revelatory, from a powerful American voice.' Erica Wagner, The Times
'Beautiful… The Bingo Palace shows us a place where love, fate and chance are woven together like a braid.' New York Times
'Dazzling, poetic, absorbing… Erdrich's prose is full of marvels' Clare Messud, TLS
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Product Description
Seeking direction and enlightenment, Lipsha Morrissey, a charismatic young drifter, answers his grandmother’s summons to return to his birthplace. As he tries to settle into a challenging new job on the reservation, he falls passionately in love for the first time. But the object of his desire, the beautiful Shawnee Ray, is in the midst of deciding whether to marry his boss, the wealthy reservation entrepreneur, Lyman Lamartine. Matters are further complicated when Lipsha discovers that Lyman is his rival in more ways than one. In league with an influential group of aggressive business men, Lyman has chosen to open a gambling complex on reservation land – a development which threatens to destroy the community’s fundamental links with the past…
“Erdich’s prose has a compelling pulse to it. It is fluent and seductive, with the vigour and erotic potency of good rock music.”
'Sunday Times'
“Louise Erdich has made the psychological landscape of the dispossessed triumphantly her own. She infuses ordinary lives with surreal poetry. As comedy, tragedy and dream melt together, we float across the borderland of mythology and realism as each character is enshrined in a destiny that is at once uplifting and sad. In its empathy, its poetry and its sheer narrative power, 'The Bingo Palace' confirms Edrich as one of the greatest composers writing today.”
'Independent on Sunday'
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First Sentence
"ON MOST WINTER DAYS, LULU LAMARTINE DID NOT STIR UNTIL the sun cast patch of warmth for her to bask in the purr." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
"ON MOST WINTER DAYS, LULU LAMARTINE DID NOT STIR UNTIL the sun cast patch of warmth for her to bask in the purr." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
thanks very much, great to use your service. This is one of my all time favourite books and lovely to now own it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Richly told, but too mythic
9 Sep 2004
Format:Turtleback
Erdrich's latest novel of modern native American life centers on a bright, but aimless young man. Lipsha Morrisey is adrift, one foot in America, one on the North Dakota reservation. Son of a crazy woman and a convict, the tribe has given up on the young man who once showed promise - a product of families recalled from Erdrich's previous books "(Love Medicine," "The Beet Queen," "Tracks").
Summoned back to the reservation by his grandmother for reasons that never come clear - a last chance to make something of himself as an Indian? Lipsha falls in love with the beautiful Shawnee Ray, who's slated to marry the tribal entrepreneur, her son's father, Lyman Lamartine. Lyman is handsome, muscled, skilled in tribal traditions, worldly wealthy and ambitious for tribal power and American success. He is all that Lipsha is not.
But Lipsha believes the strength of his love is a match for all of Lyman's assets. Endowed with his mother's luck, granted him in a vision devoid of love, Lipsha begins to win at Bingo. For Shawnee Ray he amasses unearned wealth, squanders his spiritual power, dreams of greatness in his future, and wastes his present in floundering and backsliding.
Although Lipsha's present is the primary focus, the novel dips into the past with chapters centered around other tribal members including both his grandmothers, his mother, Lyman, Shawnee Ray, and Zelda Kashpaw,Lipsha's aunt and Shawnee's self-appointed guardian. There's also a Greek Chorus sort of voice that speaks with the whole tribe's sorrowful wisdom.
This organization keeps a certain distance between the novel and the reader. Lipsha's obsession widens the gulf. His hunger for Shawnee Ray so overwhelms that it bores. Shawnee becomes the focus of Lipsha's every act but there's so little contact between them that passion never develops into love. Lipsha never develops at all.
Erdrich's prose is vivid and spare, always flowing, moving. Every sentence seems infused with the long history, hardship and spiritual mystery of Indian life. Her characters are enigmatic and firmly anchored in the Dakota setting. But for all this richness, the story never connects, remaining more mysterious than moving. Readers of her earlier novels, who can place this one in a wider context, should enjoy the book more than new readers who may be left cold by too-brief glimpses into too many hearts.
Summoned back to the reservation by his grandmother for reasons that never come clear - a last chance to make something of himself as an Indian? Lipsha falls in love with the beautiful Shawnee Ray, who's slated to marry the tribal entrepreneur, her son's father, Lyman Lamartine. Lyman is handsome, muscled, skilled in tribal traditions, worldly wealthy and ambitious for tribal power and American success. He is all that Lipsha is not.
But Lipsha believes the strength of his love is a match for all of Lyman's assets. Endowed with his mother's luck, granted him in a vision devoid of love, Lipsha begins to win at Bingo. For Shawnee Ray he amasses unearned wealth, squanders his spiritual power, dreams of greatness in his future, and wastes his present in floundering and backsliding.
Although Lipsha's present is the primary focus, the novel dips into the past with chapters centered around other tribal members including both his grandmothers, his mother, Lyman, Shawnee Ray, and Zelda Kashpaw,Lipsha's aunt and Shawnee's self-appointed guardian. There's also a Greek Chorus sort of voice that speaks with the whole tribe's sorrowful wisdom.
This organization keeps a certain distance between the novel and the reader. Lipsha's obsession widens the gulf. His hunger for Shawnee Ray so overwhelms that it bores. Shawnee becomes the focus of Lipsha's every act but there's so little contact between them that passion never develops into love. Lipsha never develops at all.
Erdrich's prose is vivid and spare, always flowing, moving. Every sentence seems infused with the long history, hardship and spiritual mystery of Indian life. Her characters are enigmatic and firmly anchored in the Dakota setting. But for all this richness, the story never connects, remaining more mysterious than moving. Readers of her earlier novels, who can place this one in a wider context, should enjoy the book more than new readers who may be left cold by too-brief glimpses into too many hearts.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Unexpected enjoyment in an off-the-wall world
14 Dec 1996
Format:Paperback
I had not expected to like this book... when I began it, I was sure that I would have to force myself to the end because I tend to like the romantic happily-ever-after sort of story, but once I began, Erdrich caught me in the absurdities of the world of Lipsha. I have read many reviews that do not find Lipsha an especially likable character, but I liked him despite the fact that he was the sort who would instinctively choose the wrong way to do anything. The sheer absurdity of Erdrich's work, including a food fight in Dairy Queen between romantic rivals, a vision quest that brought forth a talking skunk, and a ghostly mother who wanted the T-bird that her insurance money bought, adds just enough humor to make even the defeats of Lipsha amusing rather than tragic. The book is worth a try, especially if seen in terms of Lipsha's returning home to find the kinship with the land that he had lost -- a slow healing process. The skunk tells him, "It ain't real estate," and at the base of all the other adventures he begins to realize this, but as with so many young people, the discovery is slow coming and fraught with disasters
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
"Death is the golden key that opens the palace of eternity." John Milton
29 Jun 2010
Format:Paperback
This is a story of the growth and maturation of Lipshaw Morrisey.
Lipshaw is the illegitimate son of June Kashpaw and Gary Nanapush. He's summoned back to the reservation by his grandmother Lulu Martine. Her method of summons is to send a wanted poster with his father's photo on it.
This effective wake up call makes Lipshaw examine his life. He thinks of the world of drugs, his dead end job and bleak future. After looking at the direction he was going, he packs his car and heads back to the reservation.
When Lipshaw was a child we learn that "...spirits pulled his fingers." He was a hope for the people. He finished high school and did well on the North Dakota college tests but became another reservation statistic.
There are few jobs available for someone without training or education and he accepts a job as night watchman at the Bingo Palace. He also sees Shawnee Ray and falls in love with her. He isn't alone in his pursuit of her as she is also being sought after by Lipshaw's boss, his uncle Lyman Lamartine.
Erdrich's writing is rich with description and imagery. When Lipshaw and Shawnee Ray are with friends, she asks if he wants to kiss her. He answers, "Not here, our first kiss has to be a magic moment only we can share."
Louise Erdrich possesses a unique talent for creating characters who have an individuality that makes the reader want to learn more of their lives. With Lipshaw, we see his early promise but like many members of the Chippewa Nation, he seems content with a meager existence, his position as night watchman and his bingo earnings.
There are streams of hope in Shawnee Ray's future goals but we learn that many goals are just dreams that fade away in the mist.
Lipshaw is the illegitimate son of June Kashpaw and Gary Nanapush. He's summoned back to the reservation by his grandmother Lulu Martine. Her method of summons is to send a wanted poster with his father's photo on it.
This effective wake up call makes Lipshaw examine his life. He thinks of the world of drugs, his dead end job and bleak future. After looking at the direction he was going, he packs his car and heads back to the reservation.
When Lipshaw was a child we learn that "...spirits pulled his fingers." He was a hope for the people. He finished high school and did well on the North Dakota college tests but became another reservation statistic.
There are few jobs available for someone without training or education and he accepts a job as night watchman at the Bingo Palace. He also sees Shawnee Ray and falls in love with her. He isn't alone in his pursuit of her as she is also being sought after by Lipshaw's boss, his uncle Lyman Lamartine.
Erdrich's writing is rich with description and imagery. When Lipshaw and Shawnee Ray are with friends, she asks if he wants to kiss her. He answers, "Not here, our first kiss has to be a magic moment only we can share."
Louise Erdrich possesses a unique talent for creating characters who have an individuality that makes the reader want to learn more of their lives. With Lipshaw, we see his early promise but like many members of the Chippewa Nation, he seems content with a meager existence, his position as night watchman and his bingo earnings.
There are streams of hope in Shawnee Ray's future goals but we learn that many goals are just dreams that fade away in the mist.
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