SOURCE: Low, Denise. Review of Green Grass, Running Water, by Thomas King. American Indian Quarterly 18, no. 1 (winter 1994): 104-06.

In the following review, Low describes King's intermingling of Native American and European beliefs and his use of humor in Green Grass, Running Water.

Humor is the thread that runs through both of Thomas King's novels, Medicine River (1989) and the new Green Grass, Running Water. The tone in each is understated farce. In Medicine River, the hero Will says of his friend, “Harlen Bigbear was my friend, and being Harlen's friend was hard. I can tell you that” (p. 11). The rest of the novel tells exactly how this lovable busybody is a friend to all in a Canadian prairie town. The novel follows conventions of realism, and the close-knit community comes to life through a series of absurdist episodes. The humor in Green Grass, Running Water, though, is raised to...