Staff Pick – Motorcycles & Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor

~ this vintage post was originally published March 2011.

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass: a novel (M). I first heard about the book when fellow blogger Kristina mentioned it on Information Morning when She took part in an on-air book panel last summer.

So, I’ve been waiting to read this book since then. The only reason I put it off was that I had a looming “to read” pile. I wish I hadn’t waited — it’s the most enjoyable book I’ve read in a while. The narrative is funny, engaging and easy going. The premise had me immediately — a mysterious stranger whose last name and eye colour are constantly changing shows up in a small First Nations community in Ontario. The stranger goes about his enigmatic business while sweeping Maggie, the chief, off her feet.

I did a little research into Drew Haydon Taylor. He should really be a household name. Besides this book, he’s written books of humour, a book about Native sexuality (Me Sexy: an exploration of Native sex and sexuality) , plays, TV scripts forThe Beachcombers and North of Sixty and even a young adult vampire novel, The Night Wanderer: a Native gothic novel. Talk about versatile!

~ Marlo