Geronimo's Bones: A Memoir of My Brother and Me

I don't have an critical opinion of this book, but I think it would be extremely depressing to read. I did read an online article from the LA Weekly that raises questions about the authors authenticity, and just wanted to pass that along. This may be a fictional book writen by a white. http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent & task=view & id=12468 & Itemid=47

Navajo poet Nasdijj has produced another triumph in his latest memoir, Geronimo's Bones: A Memoir of My Brother and Me. Although the writer's earlier works centered on his adopted children, in this new book Nasdijj explores his own abusive past and that of his brother, Tso. There's no polite way to put this: Nasdijj and his brother were repeatedly raped and beaten by their father over a period of several years after their mother died. Nasdijj frequently emerged from these confrontations with broken bones that, he indicates, are to blame for a painful bone disease that threatens his life now that he is in his 50s. This cycle of abuse took place within the context of poverty, hunger and instability. A migrant worker, Nasdijj's father moves his family every few weeks. A chronic alcoholic, he rarely gets around to shopping for food or cooking for his boys. Other migrants are too scared to report the abuse to the authorities. And the arm of the law isn't long enough, apparently, to catch up with a migrant child molester. Geronimo's Bones is loosely woven around the brothers' daring escape from their father. At ages 13 and 14, they pick their father's pocket of several thousand dollars, steal a Corvette from a chop shop and drive it to California. One of their first stops is a House of Pancakes where they pick up a 16-year-old girl who is also running away from home. Her driver's license facilitates their journey since she can legally drive and can check them into motels along the way. Their journey is not told in a straight line, however. Nasdijj deliberately fragments his story, going back and forth in time, slipping years ahead without warning. By organizing his story this way, he mimics the way the human mind deals with harsh memories-in pieces that string together in random patterns. "What pisses me off about the assumption that my life, and the life of my brother, can be explained in linear ways, is, too, an assumption that my father was destroyed in degrees," explains Nasdijj. He goes on to write, "our father was destroyed in a thousand ways, a trillion ways, ways far beyond our limited ability to understand even as it was happening in front of our eyes. Even as it was happening to him, it was happening to us." Nasdijj interweaves his narrative with Native American mythology, especially the myths surrounding Indian leader Geronimo. The author reinvents himself and his brother as mythological "war twins," sons of Changing Woman, sister to White Shell Woman. Each new chapter of his narrative begins with myth, then gears back into the story of his own horrible childhood. In Geronimo's Bones, Nasdijj casts a light on the psychology of abusive parents and children who are so disempowered they don't appeal for help. Some people may find themselves drawn to this book for the lessons it offers psychologists and social workers. Others will be drawn to Nasdijj's haunting poetic style. Whether for its sociological values or for its literary mer

A lyrical, pain-filled memoir of two Native American boys, Nasdijj (To Become Again) and Tso (The Smart One), fighting to survive the harsh, oppressive world of countless migrant camps and the consistent abuse and terror inflicted on them by their white father in the 1950's. Before the tragic death of their alcoholic mother, she instilled in them the beauty and myth of her Navajo people, "those who walk the surface of the Earth". Nasdijj weaves the myths of Indian leader Geronimo and the War Twins, put on Earth to slay monsters, into each chapter of his narrative. These myths sustained him through illness, poverty, racism and the horror of his life, sustaining him until he and Tso were brave enough to escape the tyranny of their father and travel the open road. Although many may find the agony and brutality resonating from every page of Geronimo's Bones difficult to read, it is a powerful, evocative book of poetry that gives us insight into the very depths of Nasidjj's love and strength for his younger brother. Revealing a world not known to most Americans, it is an incredible testimony to the astounding resilience of human nature. Listen and learn "to walk in beauty".

In his previous books, THE BLOOD RUNS LIKE A RIVER THROUGH MY DREAMS & THE BOY AND THE DOG ARE SLEEPING, Nasdijj offered glimpses of his childhood, now in GERONIMO'S BONES he takes you into the crazy, dangerous, pre-politically correct world of alcoholic migrant farmers in 1950s America, when learning to read saved two brothers from certain death.Learning to read Nasdijj is to learn to listen, all over again, to the raw & lyrical language of the heart & of the soul. He will give your visions & stories which will move you to tears & laughter & to goosebumps of anticipation... & to the cracking open of your safe heart. This time, in his trademark poetic & soul-searing language, he tells us about his younger brother, Tso, & their life on the road & their bond of brotherhood.GERONIMO'S BONES will take you into two worlds -- the white one where you will find meanness of spirit & paucity of hope, & the Navajo one, where the brothers find their soul, & learn to "walk in beauty".Rebeccasreads highly recommends anything by this author who powerfully writes about love, without an ounce of sentimentalism, in the rhythms of a master storyteller. His stories will shine in your mind for the rest of your life