leawyo's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this new look at the old place I call home. Was refreshing to read her take on growing up a minority in the west. I cannot fully understand what that is like but she relays it eloquently, although sometimes painfully, all the while keeping an underlying sense of pride for her roots.
jennyshank's review
5.0
http://www.hcn.org/issues/45.16/the-wrong-kind-of-indians
Cowboys and East Indians
Nina McConigley
195 pages, softcover: $15.95.
FiveChapters Books, 2013.
In her captivating debut story collection, Casper-raised author Nina McConigley examines with wit and empathy what it means to be "the wrong kind of Indians living in Wyoming." Although prejudice and ignorance surface, there are few bad guys in this game of cowboys and Indians, only complicated human beings.
The characters in Cowboys and East Indians must explain themselves frequently -- they are never quite what those who encounter them expect. In the story "Dot or Feather," a foreign exchange student from India tells a Wyoming kid dressed up as a Native American, "There are two kinds of Indians. Some wear dots, others wear feathers. You're a feather Indian. I wear a dot."
A gnawing sense of never-belonging troubles many of McConigley's characters. In the title story, Faith Henderson, a "dot Indian" adopted at age 2, remembers how she and an Arapaho classmate, the only other non-white student at her school, took turns portraying Mary "in various school Christmas pageants, since Mary was Middle Eastern." While attending college in Laramie, Faith tries to befriend a group of East Indian graduate students, hoping they will invite her to share their lives and culture. Instead, they take advantage of her, asking her to drive them places in her minivan. In the delightful, surprising "Pomp and Circumstances," Chitra is an Indian immigrant whose husband's job brings them to Casper. At an office Christmas party, she tells an anecdote about a "hijra," a traditional Indian transvestite, and soon her husband's boss, Richard Larson, invites her for tea with his wife. While there, Richard asks if she can help him try on a sari, and introduces Chitra to his elaborate cross-dressing wardrobe hidden in his gun locker. A weird and wonderful secret understanding develops between the three people. "It is unspoken between them," McConigley writes. "This kind of thing can get you killed in Wyoming."
But despite Wyoming's harsh social rules, abundant oil derricks, and scrappy towns that aren't "the West people were expecting," the characters in Cowboys and East Indians love their state, and its wildlife and landscape color the way they experience the world. These people are as skinny as a "lodgepole pine" or as unpredictable as a prairie dog poised on the edge of the highway -- and they belong to Wyoming. As in all great fiction, McConigley has delved into the particular and emerged with genuine stories that touch the universal.
Cowboys and East Indians
Nina McConigley
195 pages, softcover: $15.95.
FiveChapters Books, 2013.
In her captivating debut story collection, Casper-raised author Nina McConigley examines with wit and empathy what it means to be "the wrong kind of Indians living in Wyoming." Although prejudice and ignorance surface, there are few bad guys in this game of cowboys and Indians, only complicated human beings.
The characters in Cowboys and East Indians must explain themselves frequently -- they are never quite what those who encounter them expect. In the story "Dot or Feather," a foreign exchange student from India tells a Wyoming kid dressed up as a Native American, "There are two kinds of Indians. Some wear dots, others wear feathers. You're a feather Indian. I wear a dot."
A gnawing sense of never-belonging troubles many of McConigley's characters. In the title story, Faith Henderson, a "dot Indian" adopted at age 2, remembers how she and an Arapaho classmate, the only other non-white student at her school, took turns portraying Mary "in various school Christmas pageants, since Mary was Middle Eastern." While attending college in Laramie, Faith tries to befriend a group of East Indian graduate students, hoping they will invite her to share their lives and culture. Instead, they take advantage of her, asking her to drive them places in her minivan. In the delightful, surprising "Pomp and Circumstances," Chitra is an Indian immigrant whose husband's job brings them to Casper. At an office Christmas party, she tells an anecdote about a "hijra," a traditional Indian transvestite, and soon her husband's boss, Richard Larson, invites her for tea with his wife. While there, Richard asks if she can help him try on a sari, and introduces Chitra to his elaborate cross-dressing wardrobe hidden in his gun locker. A weird and wonderful secret understanding develops between the three people. "It is unspoken between them," McConigley writes. "This kind of thing can get you killed in Wyoming."
But despite Wyoming's harsh social rules, abundant oil derricks, and scrappy towns that aren't "the West people were expecting," the characters in Cowboys and East Indians love their state, and its wildlife and landscape color the way they experience the world. These people are as skinny as a "lodgepole pine" or as unpredictable as a prairie dog poised on the edge of the highway -- and they belong to Wyoming. As in all great fiction, McConigley has delved into the particular and emerged with genuine stories that touch the universal.
chiyeunglau's review
A very compassionate and beautiful exploration of experiences that I would never known about if I never picked up this wonderful collection. A must read for any fan of short stories and contemporary lit.
This collection attracted me because I am very interested in the immigrant experience in the US and these stories tackle that head on.
This collection attracted me because I am very interested in the immigrant experience in the US and these stories tackle that head on.
krissymartini's review
5.0
This was Wyoming. I was truly blown away by this collection and it caught me by surprise. Every story was as unique and heart-wrenching as the next. What an incredible feat. Love love loved it, so grateful I discovered it in my states challenge.
bwolfe718's review
5.0
For more reviews of literary fiction by women (plus interviews and guest essays by authors), visit my blog, www.readherlikeanopenbook.com.
Imagine standing out by virtue of your appearance when you want to blend in. Or being invisible because of that same appearance when you want to be noticed. That is the experience of many bicultural Americans; people view them as “different” because of their appearance when most of them are just as “American” — legally through citizenship and culturally through having been raised in the U.S. It is a situation in which one can feel constantly out of sorts, as though one is a square peg when the holes are round, and a round peg when the holes are square; things just never seem to align properly.
Nina McConigley explores this dual existence in the cleverly-titled Cowboys and East Indians, a collection of ten stories based on her experiences as an East Indian living in Wyoming. Where most fiction exploring the immigrant experience is set in urban environments, McConigley takes us to the high altitude, windy isolation and cozy cities of the least-populous state (584,000 as of July 2014), a place most people would never expect to find Indian-Americans.
McConigley perfectly captures the duality of being pulled in two directions, the culture in which you live and the culture in which your parents and older relatives came from. While it is possible to feel at home in both, there is often a tension in identity “code switching.” The dominant complicating factor is how other people see you; because you look a certain way, you are viewed as foreign rather than “American” (whatever that means). And because people see you as Indian or Asian or some other minority ethnic or religious group, you may well end up becoming a sort of ambassador representing your culture. That has been my experience living in a very Christian area with a relatively small Jewish population.
In each of these stories, McConigley explores characters’ attempts to navigate through their home and outside lives. She also shows us that Indian-Americans are not a monolithic group with uniform positions on religious, social, and political issues. She drives home what should be an obvious point; while the white, Christian majority, with its limited knowledge of Indian-American life, simplifies them instead of realizing that they are as varied as the majority themselves. (We always imagine that others are not as unique as we are.) Not every Indian is Hindu; not all Indian-American women wear traditional clothing; not all Indian-Americans speak one of the many languages spoken in India (there are 23 constitutionally recognized official languages).
McConigley’s characters are quirky, three-dimensional individuals who are working through strange places both literal and figurative. She writes with a pleasing blend of deep empathy, droll wit, and vivid descriptions of people and, especially, places. The unique nature of Wyoming makes it one of the most memorable characters in this collection.
The result is one of the best books of the past few years, a collection in which all the stories make a powerful impression, and one I expect will last a long time. Read it and you will see why Cowboys and East Indians won the 2014 PEN Literary Award. It is THAT good.
Imagine standing out by virtue of your appearance when you want to blend in. Or being invisible because of that same appearance when you want to be noticed. That is the experience of many bicultural Americans; people view them as “different” because of their appearance when most of them are just as “American” — legally through citizenship and culturally through having been raised in the U.S. It is a situation in which one can feel constantly out of sorts, as though one is a square peg when the holes are round, and a round peg when the holes are square; things just never seem to align properly.
Nina McConigley explores this dual existence in the cleverly-titled Cowboys and East Indians, a collection of ten stories based on her experiences as an East Indian living in Wyoming. Where most fiction exploring the immigrant experience is set in urban environments, McConigley takes us to the high altitude, windy isolation and cozy cities of the least-populous state (584,000 as of July 2014), a place most people would never expect to find Indian-Americans.
McConigley perfectly captures the duality of being pulled in two directions, the culture in which you live and the culture in which your parents and older relatives came from. While it is possible to feel at home in both, there is often a tension in identity “code switching.” The dominant complicating factor is how other people see you; because you look a certain way, you are viewed as foreign rather than “American” (whatever that means). And because people see you as Indian or Asian or some other minority ethnic or religious group, you may well end up becoming a sort of ambassador representing your culture. That has been my experience living in a very Christian area with a relatively small Jewish population.
In each of these stories, McConigley explores characters’ attempts to navigate through their home and outside lives. She also shows us that Indian-Americans are not a monolithic group with uniform positions on religious, social, and political issues. She drives home what should be an obvious point; while the white, Christian majority, with its limited knowledge of Indian-American life, simplifies them instead of realizing that they are as varied as the majority themselves. (We always imagine that others are not as unique as we are.) Not every Indian is Hindu; not all Indian-American women wear traditional clothing; not all Indian-Americans speak one of the many languages spoken in India (there are 23 constitutionally recognized official languages).
McConigley’s characters are quirky, three-dimensional individuals who are working through strange places both literal and figurative. She writes with a pleasing blend of deep empathy, droll wit, and vivid descriptions of people and, especially, places. The unique nature of Wyoming makes it one of the most memorable characters in this collection.
The result is one of the best books of the past few years, a collection in which all the stories make a powerful impression, and one I expect will last a long time. Read it and you will see why Cowboys and East Indians won the 2014 PEN Literary Award. It is THAT good.
aimeevancleave's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
madhu5's review
3.0
Feeling Ambivalent. Much like those in the book straddling different cultures. Felt too negative about the Indian culture without showing the positives. Stories seemed really extreme and hard for me to connect with. I did like the stereotype breaking that occurred in Reserve Champion. I really appreciated the story Melting and wrongly thought the book would be more like that.
weelittlemouse's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was a great collection of short stories. I loved how the characters all varied and that it wasn't all about Indians living in Wyoming. The main characters were very diverse in likeability, relatability, and status (socioeconomic, immigration, and the like). I will actually get to meet McConigley, and can't wait to hear more of her input and inspiration on the book. Everything was very interesting.
Just as a friendly warning, there were some stories that dealt on racism, rape, child abuse, and other sensitive topics, though not in great detail. I will probably over tag everything just to make sure that nobody gets taken by surprise. It really is a great book and I'm glad I read it. But I don't want anyone getting triggered by accident.
Just as a friendly warning, there were some stories that dealt on racism, rape, child abuse, and other sensitive topics, though not in great detail. I will probably over tag everything just to make sure that nobody gets taken by surprise. It really is a great book and I'm glad I read it. But I don't want anyone getting triggered by accident.
Content Warnings
Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racism, Islamophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape
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