Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King The Library of Congress gives the first topic of this book as 1.Coyote(Legendary Character)-fiction. This seems somewhat bizarre, as Coyote is only a peripheral character in this novel of peripheral characters. Coyote is portrayed here as a foolish guy who thinks he's GOD. (Capitalization not mine). Somebody is telling a story of creation or possibly of something else, and Coyote always interrupts and changes the story a bit. In the real world parts of this story, the storytellers seem to be old indians who have escaped from an insane asylum. Through their stories, it is hinted that they may be something else altogether.
The title is a reference to the treaties between the American Indians and the government, which said that they were valid as long as the grass was green, and water ran. The style of this book is unusual, which matches it's unusual topic and content. According to the back flap,Thomas King is of Cherokee, Greek, and German descent, and those heritages are almost the only heritages NOT mentioned here. This book throws subtle humor into topics which don't usually seem all that funny.
Happy reading.
