Shadow Tag
A Novel

Shadow Tag is, we hear tell, a novelization of the demise of Erdrich’s marriage. It is an insightful, beautifully written portrait in which the character of the marriage, Dorian-Gray-like, is revealed to be somewhat wanting. Gil and Irene are the unhappy couple. Gil has made a successful career pain......more

When an author names a character “Irene America,” chances are the name has not been randomly chosen. Irene is a a woman, but she is also a symbol – for a country, a culture, a part of history. And when that character is also Native American, her symbolic impact becomes even more nuanced. And when th......more

If you keep up with me you know I love dark but this was DARK. I have spent years meaning to start reading Erdrich but never quite knowing where to start and someone suggested this one as being up my alley. They were right, it totally is, but phew I hope the rest of her writing is not this bleak. Thi......more

I thought that this was a great concept. A woman (Irene) discovers that her husband (Gil) is reading her diary - the red diary - so she writes things in that diary to manipulate him. At the same time, she opens up a safe deposit box at the bank where she writes in her blue diary. The plot was really......more

I was floored that Louise Erdrich did not win the Pulitzer this year for her magnum opus, The Plague of Doves: A Novel (P.S.). That novel doubtlessly cemented her as a peerless wordsmith and unrivaled postmodern writer of satire cum tragedy. Her dazzling metaphors--pataphors, actually, place her in......more