Futile observations of the Blue-Eyed Ojibway: Funny, You Don’t Look Like One #4

Reviews

• “…our pick for best vacation take-along book of the summer.”

  Native Peoples Magazine

• …has many humorous moments, allaying guilt on both sides of the racial coin and arguing passionately for an acceptance of all people as complex individuals, part of humanity’s turbulent eddies.”

  John Burns – Literascape: The New Reader

• “Funny, astute, and trenchant essays about life as an urban, status-card-carrying Indian (yes, that word is as good as any) afford unique insights… laughing all the way, Taylor offers a fresh critique of post-Modern mainstream culture and off-beat insights into his double life… a valuable book that does much to dispel the over-romanticized and stereotypical views of our continent’s aboriginal citizens.”

  NAPRA ReVIEW (Internet)

• “..works best when Taylor waxes anecdotal about the clashes between Native life and those he calls “the colour-challenged”. With laid back humour, he addresses issues such as cigarette smuggling and the dysfunctional scripts of “North of Sixty” with a sensitivity that pokes holes in the stereotypes both Natives and non-Natives have of each other and themselves…he’ll drop a completely serious note about, say, Native suicide rates or the Disney-ized version of Pocahontas, as a reminder that just because he can joke about growing up Native doesn’t mean it wasn’t painful…The way he addresses this face, like it or not, pushes what would be a collection of goofy little rants up into the realm of intellectual politics and makes {the book} a genuinely entertaining read.”

  Quill & Quire

• This is a very funny, engaging and stimulating book. Reads so much like a great novel that I found myself absorbed to the point I would actually giggle out loud on the subway…His view of things has given me the gift of knowledge and a way of looking at the world with a more insightful eye… This book and the two prior books are three of my favourite reads.”

  Pamela Maxwell – Independently Reviewed

• “Funny… is the kind of book that makes you turn to someone and say “listen to this – this line is hilarious!” (And, in fact, I did do that several times)… gives the reader the feeling that you’re sitting on a park bench with him watching people, news lines and cultural trends whisk by as he offers up his comments on each new topic… He is a very aware, thoughtful writer who smoothly translates his performing arts focus into the written word.”

  Deanna Marie Rivera – Red Ink Focus

• “…the anticipation comes from knowing that Taylor’s critical insight is deeply embedded in his unrelenting dedication to truth, good sense, and the necessary power of humour… As with most of his work, Taylor brings a sharp sense of irony and humour to these essays… Taylor is at his very best when he tackles difficult issues – from residential school abuse to the controversies of identity and commercialization of Native cultural production – and handles these with intelligence, clarity, and plentiful of amounts of worldly-wise sarcasm…. Strong Native voices in the mainstream Canadian press are all too few but Taylor’s joyful irreverence and clear-eyed analysis continue to be necessary correctives to such erasures. FURIOUS OBSERVATIONS demonstrates yet again why DHT is among the best observers of contemporary Aboriginal life in Canada.”

  Daniel Heath Justice – University of Toronto Quarterly.

• “{difficult experiences} sometimes make you feel like an outsider, but it also gives you a different perspective of the world. Lesser people might become bitter loners. Taylor however has become an irreverent and keen-eyed observer…The essays are funny and thought-provoking throughout… I’ve been trying to avoid saying “buy the book and read it” throughout this review but I’m unable to resist the urge. The book is fun, interesting and useful. Buy the book and read it.” 

  Ken Williams – Windspeaker

• Award winning Playwright D.H.T. has done it again. Quoted by many as among the best observers of contemporary Aboriginal life in Canada. This fourth and final edition will have readers laughing at Drew’s ironic and insightful humour. This social commentator whose ideas and wit pour into the final edition will have you rolling. His unique angle and perspectives give insight into Native humour and live as a blue-eyed Ojibway.”

  Urban Mozaik Magazine.