Little Big Bully by Heid E. Erdrich

Little Big Bully Reviews

• 
  Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)

  4.5 stars
  
  Little Big Bully is a hard-hitting and thought-provoking poetry collection from an indigenous woman. Pieces in the collection address the genocide of indigenous people, missing and murdered Native women, identity, sexual assault in the #MeToo era, and cultural appropriation (including from people who say they have some Native blood but don't actually experience any of the oppression many indigenous people face). There are pieces documenting the ways that women can be victimized time and time again, beginning in childhood. The author doesn't pull her punches and I think this is an important read for everyone. She reads the poems herself on the audiobook and I think that's a great way to access this collection. I received an audio copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.
• 
  Phil J

  I read about 20 pages. It was hit-or-miss. The poem "fauxskins" was a great discussion of people who claim indigenous ancestry without bearing any of the trouble that goes with it. Several of the poems were about sexual assault. They were well-written, but not what I was in the mood for.
• 
  James

  A powerful collection of poetry examining the treatment of indigenous people, particularly women, in the age of Trump and #metoo. I already want to reread it.
• 
  Carmen

  This is a wonderful, beautiful, powerful book. Read from cover to cover, and then the wonderful end notes made me want to read all of them again, which I will. Very relevant to place (MN-ND, Northlands), to small town childhood, to Indigenous rights and history. Also pop culture, driving, so much more. Love.
• 
  Jennifer

  This is the third collection of Erdrich's that I've read, and each one just makes me want to read more!
  
  I loved "The Coldness Was Coldness" taking on William Carlos Williams and his most famous (or at least most viral) poem of ice boxes and plums -- and the near-invisible wife implied therein. I loved "Oh - Terrible Movie!" watching "The Day After Tomorrow" in the midst of 2019's polar vortex, proud when their kid heckles the screen. but perhaps most of all I love the last two poems in the collection, "Dream of the Land-Based Future" and "Reprieve," that dream imagined futures that give reason for hope.
  
  Heid E. Erdrich is so wonderful.
• 
  Kristin Boldon

  A perfect winter quarantine read, as the decadent and despotic reign of Trump winds down.
• 
  Nadine in NY Jones

  Choose one or more of the following:  beautiful, heart-rending, funny, meaningful, profound, eye-opening, clever, sad, educational, powerful, memorable.  That was this book.
  
  I get all my books from the library but I think I need to buy this one.
  
  
  Erdrich plays with formatting, and uses the tab key a lot, which I cannot figure out how to replicate on Goodreads.  But I think the words are just as meaningful even if they are not indented properly.
  
  
  If I Give You A Last Lesson
  If we had just these moments I would tell you
  Stand close as I write
  Hold my shoulders  last touch
  then I'll be gone
  
  How to watch me go how my being will dwindle all twilight
  How to stand here alone when I am gone feel the vibrant earth rotate through you
  until your head accepts
  How to listen for what’s left of me my voice that jolts you out of weekend sleep
  that wonders what you eat asks you to demand real love
  from anyone you give you sweetest self
  How to take into yourself all the structures I pointed out the physical logic my rationale
  the critical angle you can use so quickly your wit can outrace your body
  and give you that moment to jump
  How to jump when an enemy
  How to know which branch which roof which window
  How-to yearn for blue shores moments alone when you know
  all you will know
  and can read it back to yourself
  How to relearn what you don’t know
  How to dive hold your breath so bubbles fill the water popping
  full of reflections of your own face
  and you are not afraid
  How to not be afraid you can say it
    I am not afraid to learn
  
  How to live with the hurt of being human
  How you learn it is you sayit hurtsHow in itself it is the lesson
  How you say gone now and still here
  Now watch me go my being will dwindle all twilight
  and other words that combine w with another consonant unexpectedly
  That last to make  you laugh
  last lesson you live all your life
  so when you go you pass it on
• 
  Angela

  impulsively picked this book off a shelf to pass time at a bookstore but wow. the poet has such a way with her words. it’s so lyrical yet still colloquial at times. witty but instills a very deep sense of empathy. her descriptions of the way natives and women have been wronged were so raw and straightforward yet still took deciphering and thinking to truly understand the depth. the formatting and spaces between lines and words in some of the poems were so successfully implemented and so geniusly curated. it rlly provided the necessary pauses and emphasis on certain words or phrases that made the reading experience all the more immersive. she paints the struggles of women, nature/animals, and indigenous peoples in such a way that it’s easy to relate. if not relate, then understand. she draws parallels or compares her experiences with indigenous references so not only are you gaining an understanding of these all-too-normalized experiences but also an education of how truly sacred indigenous identity is.
  
  getting into some of my favorite selections, “all nations” was about extinction, both human and nature. her words were simply mind blowing. i felt anguish and longing for this “wild” that extinction might find refuge in. “put down” also particularly resonated w me bc i’ve found myself experiencing putting myself down, humbling myself, averting my gaze not for me but to be hidden, to be ignored, to redirect attention from me in the public sphere. it’s crazy women are taught to stay low and hidden in order to stay “safe” but who are we hiding from if not ourselves? some other favorites include: all nations, fauxskins, story of these creatures, dear demeter-dear earth, little big, put down, nothing to forget, aftermath, if i give you a last lesson.
  
  it was mentioned that the cover art was meant to be a “sigil for warding off loss” which just perfectly ties into the book. so much loss but learning in the process. overall beautiful book with gripping and revelation-inducing words.
• 
  Mike

  How
  
  Loves How I love you How you How we hang on words How eaten with need How we need to eat How weevils sift the wheat How cold it is How thick with hoarfrost ice slick sleet freeze How wintery the mix How full of angst How gut sick How blue lipped How we drink How we drink a health How we care How easy over as eggs How it all slides How absurd How yet tender we all How wrapped in a thick coat How battered How slender the flesh How we wrap ourselves How many selves we all How I miss you many How I see you How your eyes warm mine How tiny am I inside How enormous my need How you open an old-fashioned satchel How deep it yawns How bleak this need How like winter How it yet catches the light How brilliant the sundogs parhelion moon dogs paraselene phenomenon optic How fetching your spectacles How my thumbs might fit alongside the slope of your nose How my own glasses slide down my thin bridge How ridiculous the theory of the bridge How inane the bibble babble How we grew to be friends How we grew thumbs How opposable we all How we grew sparks How we blew up a fire How angry How incensed How we resist How we bead up drops How water will not run How we distract How loud the dog snores How loudly How noisy the snow grows How many degrees below How we fret How again How we all came here How did we come How did we How loves How did we come to this
• 
  April Gray

  I can tell you that I enjoyed this collection of poetry, that it resonated with me, that the language felt tasty in my brain, and that it made me feel various things. I can't tell you what it all meant (not that I would try, that's between me and the words, it's nothing to do with you), because though I felt the poems, I can't properly put into words what those feelings are, which is how poetry should work, in my opinion, anyway. Erdrich does explain many of the references in the poems in an afterward, providing context and depth, and encouraging the reader to go back and reread the poems. I absolutely recommend reading this, even though I can't exactly tell you why. Let the words wash over you, and find your meaning for them.
  
  #LittleBigBully #NetGalley
• 
  Burgi Zenhaeusern

  I love how the poems in this collection hang together, from the density of the epigraph/poem "How" ("How did we come How did we How loves How did we come to this") to the first poem "Sovereign Love" ("The only name it needs it speaks within me / Call it what you will It will answer"), to "Territory Was Not Virgin and Neither Was I (Virgin) ("but daughter then woman then wave"), all the way to the last poem "Reprieve" ("fine we thought we're done with dying"); how they break open, expose, complicate, tangle, question love and sovereignty (of self/others/nation/...) and the fraught ramifications of assumptions made about these (and the pronouns 'we' and 'you' for that matter), especially when power comes into play.
• 
  Sasha

  Reading Heid E. Erdrich’s Little Big Bully, I felt that familiar tug of "reading, pausing, re-reading, finishing, re-reading" that I associate with truly engaging with poetry. There is so much in this short collection. Bittersweetness, anger, exhaustion, and “sovereign love.” There’s humor, sharp wit, and grief. There’s reckoning. It is uneasy.
  
  Honestly this entire collection is brilliant and beautiful and thought-provoking, so choosing favorites feels like an impossible task. Nevertheless, here are some that I ended up tabbing and underlining the most: “All Nations,” “Fauxskins,” “The Pacifist Grows Mean,” “Aftermath,” “The Eighth Fire,” and “Reprieve.”
  
• 
  Kaitlyn

  This is a fairly quick collection that covers a wide variety of topics. Some that pertain to the author’s life and some that reach a wider scale of what impacts her communities.
  
  Each poem is quite vivid, not following any distinct style. It was interesting to read with all the words spaced out in such a way. It felt a little chaotic, but in a good way.
  
  There were a few that stood out to me while others I wasn’t totally sure what the messaging was. But they might just be beyond my skillset and comprehension.
• 
  Samidha; समिधा

  Very interesting and very empowering. Poetry shines through when it merges culture and trauma and Heid Erdrich does it very well. Some bits were a bit too whimsical for me, such that I had to read over and over, but that’s the way poetry is written, so no complaints.
• 
  Rachel Malleappah

  Some poems were hard to understand and others I really enjoyed:) definitely can re read this one
  Overall the themes in these poems hold a great message
  And the writting is beautiful
  
  BUZZWORD CHALLENGE: BIG/LITTLE
• 
  Rachel Simone

  3.5 stars
• 
  Emily

  I think I might be a little out of practice at reading poetry and maybe rushed through this a bit, but I wanted to read something by an Indigenous author on Thanksgiving. Lots of hard truths.
• 
  Lindsey Bailey

  Powerful. I had to put it down a few times to process - had to be in the right headspace for it.
• 
  Riah

  This was recommended to me by the librarian. Wonderful read! Beautiful poems about identity framed in contexts that oppose each other and shift with a gracious push-pull.
• 
  Malou

  3,5*
• 
  Laurel

  Really amazing poetry. Beautiful, though-provoking. A striking examination of our country. Everyone should read these poems.
• 
  Nancy

  In the company of someone talking to themselves with the candor you sometimes don't even give yourself. I loved these long lines full of pause, pieces of story, rebuttals, pain and pulse.
• 
  Jacqueline Gordon

  Erdrich truly never misses. The voice and passion in this work and its uniquely formatted poems come together into a work that is powerful and special.
• 
  em

  damn heid ! you're living in my brain with this one bestie
• 
  Molly

  2023 Sealey Challenge 28/31
• 
  Laura

  A poetry collection that talks about harassment and oppression from the Native POV. Don't read all at once, take your time to really think each poem over.
  
  eARC provided by publisher.