Calling for a Blanket Dance

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A moving and deeply engaging debut novel about a young Native American man finding strength in his familial identity, from a stellar new voice in fiction.

Told in a series of voices, Calling for a Blanket Dance takes us into the life of Ever Geimausaddle through the multigenerational perspectives of his family as they face myriad obstacles. His fathers injury at the hands of corrupt police, his mother's struggle to hold on to her job and care for her husband, the constant resettlement of the family, and the legacy of centuries of injustice all intensify Evers bottled-up rage. Meanwhile, all of Evers relatives have ideas about who he is and who he should be. His Cherokee grandmother urges the family to move across Oklahoma to find security; his grandfather hopes to reunite him with his heritage through traditional gourd dances; his Kiowa cousin reminds him that hes connected to an ancestral past. And once an adult, Ever must take the strength given to him by his relatives to save not only himself but also the next generation of family.

How will this young man visualize a place for himself when the world hasnt given him a place to start with Honest, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting, Calling for a Blanket Dance is the story of how Ever Geimausaddle found his way to home.

Reviews

Winner of the PEN America/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
Finalist for the 2023 Aspen Words Literary Prize
Finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize/Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

A TIME Must-Read Book of 2022
A BookPage Best Fiction Book of 2022
A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction and Best Debut Book of 2022

With intricate prose and unflinching vernacular, Oscar Hokeah chronicles a family and a community. We learn trials and aspirations for each generation, and witness what is woven into complicated arrival. We need these characters and their testimonies. But more than that, we crave I cravethis kind of honest storytelling. These rhythms. These dances. This beauty. This welcoming to a place where the people speak and are unafraid.
Honore Fanonne Jeffers, author ofThe Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

A profound reflection on the intergenerational nature of cultural trauma Hokeahs characters exist at the intersection of Kiowa, Cherokee and Mexican identity, which provides a vital exploration of indigeneity in contemporary American letters.
The New York Times Book Review

Hokeah skillfully recreates the years leading up to and following Evers birth, capturing the traumas and complexities that shaped him into who he is and may determine who he becomes.
TIME

Quaking with age-old righteous anger but nevertheless luminescent with hope.
ELLE

Oscar Hokeah explores family and identity, past and present, in his debut novel Above all, the book explores family relationships, obligation, resentment, and devotion.
TheBoston Globe

Hokeahs prose is punchy and descriptive, filled with Native American words and phrases that come naturally to the characters. This blending of languages is still uncommon in contemporary fiction, but the current Indigenous literary and cultural renaissance promises that more voices will grow this singularity into a rich multitude. But of course, renaissance is the wrong word to use here. Hokeah, who is of Mexican heritage as well as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, shows that this tradition has been here the whole time, evolving and surviving.
BookPage

This miraculous story presents a collective imagining not only of who its main character is, but who everyone else anticipated and dreamed he could become. It is a must-read.
BuzzFeed

Drawing on a wealth of Indigenous tradition, Hokeah has produced in his debut a novel that underscores the quiet strength that arises when a family is true to its identity and the too common tragedy that results when identity is suppressed.
The Millions

An auspicious debut . . . Recalling both Tommy Orange and Gabriel Garcia Marquez in its narrative structure . . . A book to deeply invest in.
Chicago Review of Books

Remarkable.
Shondaland

Told from a variety of voices, this story is one of love, loss, growth, tradition and evolution. Not to be missed.
Ms. Magazine

[A] captivating debut . . . with striking insight into human nature and beautiful prose, this heralds an exciting new voice.
Publishers Weekly, starred review

What is wonderful about Hokeahs debut is that each character gets to tell their own story, while also covering Evers life, who they each feel responsible for as part of their family and community. ... What we have with this book is a complete picture of one person as seen by others, and an entire community made up of Kiowa, Cherokee, and Mexican Americans, each with their own language, speech rhythms, and ways of seeing the world.
Literary Hub

Hokeahs debut will feel familiar to fans of Louise Erdrich and Tommy Orange . . . A novel that builds in richness and intricacy . . . Another noteworthy debut in what feels like an ongoing renaissance of Indigenous peoples literature, both reflecting this lineage and introducing an exciting, fresh new voice to the choir.
Library Journal

As in the novels of Louise Erdrich and Tommy Orange, the chorus of voicesrendered in unadorned vernacular peppered with Indigenous wordsevokes a close-knit Native community in all its varied humanity, anchored by tradition while marked by injustices past and present Simply told and true to life.
Kirkus Reviews

Amasterwork of peripheral narration.
Kirkus Reviews,"Best of 2022: A Year of the 'Fully Booked' Podcast"

Oscar Hokeahs debut novel reads like a Louise Erdrich novel. Yet, while this inspiration seems clear, Hokeahs story is profoundly original.
Chicago Review of Books

Amoving symphony of voices, and a beautiful story about loss and belonging."
Book Riot

Hokeah's novel not only tells a story that is ultimately uplifting, but also immerses readers in Oklahoma's Kiowa, Cherokee and Mexican communitiesEver and his family aren't looking for a way to define themselves within a larger national identity, but they are trying to pry their lives from the forces of generational trauma that shape their community.
Minneapolis Star Tribune

With beautiful prose and a deeply moving cast of characters,Calling for a Blanket Danceintroduces Oscar Hokeah as an important and exciting new voice in literary fiction.
Electric Literature

Speaking to a shared experience of many Indigenous peoples, this novel puts readers in the shoes of a people trying to make their way in a country that has stolen their place.
Morning Brews Sidekick

A necessary and important addition to your TBR.
The Young Folks

A coming-of-age tale that is uniquely Kiowa and Cherokee, and that celebrates connection, family and honor.
Minnesota Public Radio / MPR News with KerriMiller

A coming-of-age tale that is uniquely Kiowa and Cherokee, and that celebrates connection, family and honor.
Minnesota Public Radio / MPR News with KerriMiller

Riveting Hokeahs characters work their way through and beyond so many obstacles. What emerges is an authentic cultural voice speaking on behalf of the many ways family bonds bend, break, and hold on forever.
KCUR (Kansas NPR) / Up To Date

Filled with astonishing immediacy, and embellishedwith Hokeahs authentic voice, these epicstories soar with indelible images of aproud, but challenged, people who find strength through their blood-lines and their enduring familial love. Some characters are so broken and bitter that I was moved to tears.But most characters persevere, and thrive, through the indomitable will and pride of their heritage. Hokeah has accomplished something unique here. In his quietly brilliant depiction of his Cherokee/Kiowa/ Mexican heritage he has dipped into his medicine bag and gifted us with a smallbut compelling masterpiece. This should be required reading for every American.
Kiana Davenport, author of Shark Dialogues

The characters that populate Calling for a Blanket Dance are real, amazing, vulnerable and beautiful in their flaws and, even despairOscar Hokeah unveils their suffering and joy, their struggle to live with honor, care for family, walk right. What an accomplishment. Few writers have the courage or craft to pull this off. Oscar Hokeah beats the drum and stomps, announcing his power is back, the people have returned with powerful stories. He weaves a tale that is unforgettable and fortifying. I couldnt put the book down.
Jimmy Santiago Baca, author ofA Place to Stand

Calling for a Blanket Danceis a stunning novel. Oscar Hokeah writes from deep inside the heart of his communities, bringing life to generations of voices who became so real to me they felt like relatives. The reader cant help but invest in each character as they navigate bitter challenges, sometimes surprising themselves with their strength, their ability to survive and love. Hokeahs prose gorgeously weaves authentic local vernacular with the lyrical notes of hard-won insight. This novel belongs on every recommended booklist for fans of literary fiction.
Susan Power, author ofThe Grass Dancer

Hokeah offers us a rich tapestry of interconnected narratives, a chorus of distinct voices battling againsthistory, failing bodies, and barren landscapes. We move through decades, fall in love and despair with the Geimaussadlefamily. The scale and beauty reminds you ofOne Hundred Years of Solitudeset in Oklahoma. Heres a True American Epic.
Gabriel Bump, author ofEverywhere You Dont Belong

As a plethora of voices accompanyEver Geimausaddle's upbringing, we learn of challenges and resilience, the multilingual language of hope and the grace of forgiveness.Their lives, tender and difficult, full of awe and learning, remind us that the borderlands are fluid regions where families have intermingled, overcome challenges, and danced together for centuries."
Cristina Rivera Garza, author ofGrieving: Dispatches from a Wounded Country

Oscar Hokeah is the real deal. A new voice with ancient music.
Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels

Oscar Hokeah brings to life a kaleidoscope of characters from an unforgettable Native American family. His depiction of Indigenous cultures honors the

Author Bio

Oscar Hokeah is a citizen of Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma from his mother's side and has Mexican heritage through his father. He holds an MA in English with a concentration in Native American Literature from the University of Oklahoma, as well as a BFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), with a minor in Indigenous Liberal Studies. He is a recipient of theTruman Capote Scholarship Awardthrough IAIA and is also a winner of theNative Writer Awardthrough the Taos Summer Writers Conference. His short stories have been published inSouth Dakota Review, American Short Fiction, Yellow Medicine Review, Surreal South,andRed Ink Magazine.He works with Indian Child Welfare in Tahlequah.