Trickster: Native American Tales A Graphic Collection
Edited by Matt Dembicki
Fulcrum Publishing, Golden CO, 2010
Borrowed from the library.
Trickster is a character that shows up in mythologies and folklore all over the planet. The Monkey-King in China, Reynard in France and, of course, Raven in the Pacific Northwest. This anthropomorphic animal plays tricks, disobeys rules and goes against conventional behavior. We find him or her everywhere.
This beautiful collection of Native Americans tales pairs native story-tellers with graphic artist in a book that celebrates North American indigenous cultures. There is history, moral dilemmas and wonderful teaching in these stories. The various voices and artistic styles bring great variety to these pages and some of my favorite graphic artists are represented, including Micah Farritor and editor Matt Dembicki.
I’ve been seeing this everywhere, and I really need to pick it up. I have read woefully few books by American Indian authors, and this one looks marvelous.
Jenny – Try Sherman Alexie, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, Thomas King and N. Scott Momaday to start.
I was really looking forward to you writing about this one! I’m going to have to check it out. It looks really good!
Chris – Trickster is a beautiful book. I like some of the stories better then other, mostly because of the artwork.
Such a great collection. My favorite was the very first story about Coyote :)
Glad to hear you liked this one! Can’t wait to read it myself.