When I read this book, Simon Ortiz's voice came from the pages. Simon Ortiz writes like he speaks and his stories are rich and beautiful. As a student of his I have had the unique opportunity of hearing many of these stories orally, but they have not lost their beauty and depth being written down. If you like this book, check out Simon Ortiz's poetry. You won't be disappointed.

Mr. Simon J. Ortiz's work, "Men On The Moon", is a collection of three earlier groups of his short stories. The tales are not just of contemporary Native American life but also of their History, and specifically their History with the, "Mericano".

The History of Native Americans cannot be written without the experience of loss, displacement, internment, and racism to mention just a few. The Native Americans are one of the Genocides that this Country is responsible for, and even though we who made read this History took no part in the atrocities, we also are the only ones who can make amends. Those responsible, the dead, are not terribly productive.

These stories are not complaints nor are they a cry for pity. They are each brief statements of fact that no matter how tragic maintain a sense of hope. Justice, fairness, acknowledgement of the crimes committed against them are perhaps some of the redress they illustrate/seek.

The book is not grim; it is full of irony, sardonic moments, and even humor. The short story that is also the title for the book is wonderful. An elderly man muses about the first information he sees on viewing his first TV. A series of questions follow with answers from a younger family member. If NASA had to answer these questions as put forward by this wise old sage, the groping for answers would be amusing, and the space program would be doubtful. I don't believe the Author was actually questioning the merits of the space program, rather illustrating how easily things may happen despite failing the most basic of queries.

There are stories of heroic service for the United States during her wars, and too there is a story of one man that went to prison rather than serve. I mention these as I found this book very balanced. This is not one Native American's list of complaints, rather a reasoned and balanced view of their History and what that History has wrought.

The book is great reading that communicates its message in an informal conversational way consistent with Native American Culture. It loses nothing to the extent its format is not structured in the traditional manner of, "scholarly", History. Nonetheless this man is a wonderful writer, a poet, role model, and eloquent representative for his people.

Last night I had a dream. It was about this unpublished book. I read it there and it was wonderfull

great book. beautifully good. short and sweet

This book is an excellent and truthfull look into the often sugar-coated history of the American Indian. It has bold pictures, sure to keep the attention of a young reader, that are culturally accurate. The book reads much like it were told in the oral tradition and ends to include all groups of people who have been mistreated and misrepresented over the years by greed and misunderstanding. It is a superb book to introduce to a young reader interested in American history and a phenomenal book for Indigenous readers, young and old alike.

I have been reading about THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE for school, a topic I chose, and I have been astonished by the lack of corresponding information on the subject. This book of poetry has served me well to offer some different views on the subject, and the information is presented in a creative manner, while remaning concise. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys some poetry and who would want to see the history of Native Americans and their views on how the U.S. came to be through eyes untypical to a general school classroom.

In November 1864 in Colorado Territory a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho was savagely assaulted by the Colorado Volunteers under the leadership of the Reverend Colonel Chivington. Ortiz calls to mind this event in prose, and then offers on the facing page poetry of hope and renewal. That is how this remarkable book begins. Throughout the book, the author (one of the best American poets writing today) pairs poems on one page with historical vignettes, personal notes, and political comments on the facing page. The book moves through alcohol treatment in VA hospitals, American mythology that undergirds a sense of mission, episodes in Indian-white relations, and many other such topics. In this work Ortiz builds toward a vision of America that is political committed, spiritually centered, and humanizing. He expresses this vision in full knowledge and acceptance of the awful truths of patterns of mistreatment and oppression. Unlike so much of the patriotism that is rooted in a "my country right or wrong" attitude, Ortiz writes as an Acoma Pueblo Indian and US citizen who loves this country deeply for what it can be.

I came to this book a number of years ago full of anger and cynicism developing as a result of learning the history that had been suppressed from the school curriculum. I had always been deeply patriotic, but was finding the truth might shatter that. Ortiz offered more evidence of the lies, but placed these facts in a framework of a dream "of love and compassion and knowledge" (96). No book has done more for the development of my sense of myself as a white American. From my point of view this book is simply the best book in print (and it was out of print for several years).

The "stars" of American Indian literature--James Welch, Leslie Silko, Scott Momaday--are only the beautiful surface of the genre. Dive deeper, and you will find treasures like Peter Blue Cloud, Ray Young Bear, Anita Endrezze, and the incomparable Simon J. Ortiz.

Ortiz writes with a brilliance and clarity all Americans could aspire to, and this little collection of pieces, modulating from the grim depths of alcoholism and prison to the open spaces filled with joyful children, is representative of his work. His meditation on a sparrow's nest is worth the cover charge, discussion of the place of English in the mind of the Indian artist ("Beauty All Around") is a model of deeply felt exposition, and the cycle of poems on whether Indians exist is both witty and tragic.

Taste the best, a literary flavor perhaps too exotic for the general reader, but worth the adventure. This is a writer to remember and return to.