SOURCE: A review of First Indian on the Moon, in Publishers Weekly, Vol. 240, No. 45, November 8, 1993, p. 70.

In the following review, the critic praises Alexie's use of the metaphor of fire in First Indian on the Moon.

Reading [First Indian on the Moon, the] latest offering of poetry and short prose pieces from Native American writer Alexie (The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven), it's easy to see why his work has garnered so much attention. Working from a carefully developed understanding of his place in an oppressed culture, he focuses on the need to tear down obstacles before nature tears them down. Fire is therefore a central metaphor: a sister and brother-in-law killed, a burnt hand, cars aflame. Tongue in cheek, Alexie inserts images from popular songs and movies, and catalogues aspects of traditional reservation life that have been sacrificed in America's melting pot. "After 500 years of...