Morgan Talty's Night of the Living Rez is a novel published in 2022. It is set against a very unique backdrop: a Native American community in Maine, United States. Fundamentally, it is an exploration of what it means to be a Native American (specifically: Penobscot) in the twenty-first century in the United States at a time where discrimination and hardship are rampant. Told through twelve short stories, the novel follows a group of unique characters, including a man who tries to steal marijuana from his dealer and a grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
Like much of the rest of his work, Night of the Living was critically lauded. Esquire called it one of the best books of 2022 so far; it was a New York Times bestseller. Tommy Orange, for example, the up-and-coming author of There There, said that "There is so much brutal, raw, and beautiful power in these [Talty's novel]. Reading this book, I literally laughed and cried."
