Memory and invention are the stuff of Silko's storytelling. Although many of her stories [in Storyteller] traverse familiar territory—the dislocation of a disinherited people—her perceptions are acute, and her style reflects the breadth, the texture, the mortality of her subjects.

The title story, set in Alaska, establishes the theme of cultural conflict that dominates the book. The strongest story, perhaps, is "Coyote Holds a Full House in His Hand," a gently ironic tale of a wastrel of the Laguna tribe and his lackadaisical pursuit of a Hopi woman with deliciously fat thighs.

A continuing verse narrative is interspersed with the stories and establishes Silko's credentials: A member of the Laguna Pueblo, she grew up with "an entire history, entire vision of the world which depended upon memory and retelling…." Her skills were shaped by tribal stories and the photographs from Grandpa Hank's old camera that illustrate...