Grammar and the Body
The body is frequently used for metaphorical purposes, such as calling Chicago the city of big shoulders for example. Grammar is also a go-to mechanism for similes such as, for instance, her dark gaze was like an exclamation point. The best of both worlds is combining the two, which is what the author does here, though admittedly the imagery is not as immediately accessible:
”We both smile at the voices we give each other, the way the color of our hair becomes a noun, the dark of our eyes becomes possessive.”
The Economics of Fancydancing
The title work of this collection is a poem. A poem about a dancing, but also clearly a poem about business. The economics of fancydancing where money is a metaphor:
“a twenty is a promise
that can last all night long, a promise reach-
ing into the back pocket of unfamiliar Levis.
…
Money
is a tool, putty to fill all the empty
spaces, a ladder so we can reach
for more. A promise is just like money.”
“Spokane Tribal Celebration, September 1987”
This poem kicks off with an amazingly precise construction of metaphorical imagery. Note the way that the author builds up the imagery of his metaphor layer by layer, adding detail and drawing it out so that by the time the period arrives, the portrait is complete and unambiguous. This is a metaphor one can easily picture in their minds and, of course, that will only serve to help with facilitating understanding. [The unusual punctuation at the end of the first line and beginning of the second is actually part of the poem, not a typo.]
“This is the first powwow I
‘ve been to in five years, night
falling like an old blanket
on shoulders of turquoise women
selling sawdust jewelry and dreams.”
"Distances"
As always in an Alexie work, the tension between white American society and Indian (his word) society eventually bubbles to the surface in explicit ways. “Distances” is perhaps the strangest entry in this collection, a random series of unconnected and disconnected thoughts, often comprising one sentence paragraphs including the ultimate in random strangeness: “EDWALL, WASHINGTON – 186,000 mile.” However, it is also the part of the book where one can find—arguably, of course—the two most memorable similes in the entire text:
“There is nothing as white as the white girl an Indian boy loves.”
“Remember this: `Electricity is lightning pretending to be permanent.’”