Python's Kiss

by Louise Erdrich

From Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich, a captivating collection of short stories.

It was as though I was chosen—marked out by the python’s kiss for wisdom or maybe sorrow. Or perhaps, I think now, a sense of the ridiculous in extremes of experience. Also, I hoped for a long life.

WRITTEN OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, Louise Erdrich’s magnificent story collection features a range of characters—a tribal newsletter editor whose son tells her a story that nothing in her experience can encompass, immigrant farmers whose tenuous hold on the earth, and sanity, is challenged, and ordinary people, bird lovers, artists, grade-school teachers, and romantics. A girl decides to spend her life with a stone. A man is confronted with a folk-singing thief. A woman enters a corporately owned afterlife to seek revenge on her father.

Accompanied by specially commissioned artwork by Aza Erdrich Abe—an intimate and revelatory creative collaboration between mother and daughter—these stories offer an oppor­tunity to celebrate the wisdom and brilliant, wide-ranging imagination of one of America’s most important writers.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Indigenous, Native American, Literary Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism

12 pages, Audiobook

First published March 24, 2026

About the author

Louise Erdrich is one of the most gifted, prolific, and challenging of American novelists. Her fiction reflects aspects of her mixed heritage: German through her father, and French and Ojibwa through her mother. She is the author of many novels, the first of which, Love Medicine, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the last of which, The Round House, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2012. She lives in Minnesota.

source: Amazon

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars .
I’ve read at least a half a dozen of Louise Erdrich’s novels and loved most of them so I thought I would try this collection of some of her short stories. Short stories don’t always work for me and this one was a mixed bag . I think I prefer collections with stories that are connected. I honestly didn’t “get” some of them. None of these came close for me to three of her novels which I loved - LaRose, The Night Watchman, or Future Home of the Living God. Could be that the short stories just didn’t feel like enough at times, so I want to be sure to say that Erdrich is an amazing writer, who writes lovingly of he Native American heritage.

However , there are a few standouts that I found to be the moving and will remember . In THE HOLLOW CHILDREN, a school bus driver in a blizzard storm tries to save the children on the bus, and the experience leaves an indelible mark on him . I was touched by a young girl and asked myself who saved whom ? The WEDDING DRESSES is about a young girl curious to know more about her aunt’s marriages as she asks about the wedding dresses for her three marriages , but really wants to know more. The aunt provides enough information quietly respecting the girl’s age and innocence. AMELIA was also about the impact of circumstances beyond the understanding of a child that come to light as she matures . Even though, they didn’t all work for me, it won’t keep me from reading Erdrich’s novels.

I received a copy of this from HarperCollins through Edelweiss

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

our best living american writer tbh

[Book Riot Community]

Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026:

If you've never read Louise Erdrich, I envy you the joy of discovery wherever you start in her extensive catalog. If you have read Louise Erdrich, you know that her signature blend of the sacred, the mundane, and the mythic is unlike anything else in contemporary fiction. Erdrich's stories are deeply human and real. Her writing is somehow both spare and lyrical. She's a master of her craft with a Pulitzer and National Book Award under her belt, and she routinely shows up as someday-contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Wherever she wants to take me, I’m ready to go. —Rebecca Joines Schinsky

[Darryl Suite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story collection had banger after banger, and now I’m convinced that Louise Erdrich is a literary shapeshifter, consistently reinventing her style to keep things fresh and unpredictable.


I’m more motivated than ever to read through her entire bibliography. I felt this after reading her novels THE ROUND HOUSE and THE MIGHTY RED, stanning each for different reasons. She seems to put her everything into whatever she’s writing. Complex leap off the page characters; massive outpourings of raw emotions; heartily riveting plots. You know there’s going to be pain, soul-crushing pain. Whenever Erdrich’s name pops up in literary circles, the word prolific tends to always come up, and that’s exactly the right word to describe her and her work. The shoe fits.


So, with this short story collection, I had the same feeling of immediacy. (I’ve already taken downmy copy of novel LAROSE off my shelf to read by month’s end.) These stories are excellent and went into surprising directions. Most produced one pivotal moment, usually during the middle of said story, that stopped me in my tracks, totally reconfiguring my initial impressions on the kind of story I thought I was getting. Tonal shifts and genre mashups; surprising bouts of elation and unexpected hits of brutality.


There are 13 stories. All did their thing. I’ll give you a bit of insight on my Top 5:

THE HOLLOW CHILDREN : a school bus gets stuck in a sudden blizzard, causing the bus driver to go through a harrowing, life-altering experience. I read it three times. No joke, I think it’s become my second fave short story ever!!!!!

DOMAIN : A full-blown sci-fi about a woman who wants to give up the functionalities and sensations of her entire body where all she will be left with is her memories.

DECEMBER 26 : A troubled son and his newfound pet snake, but it’s what the snake is used for that makes this such an unsettling roller coaster.

BORSALINO : A woman has a lasting (and sinister) connection to Venice and her favorite hat. This one has some real gasp-worthy moments.

AMELIA : KFC is responsible for this girl going to college and having a bright future. Yeah, you heard me. Read the story to find out about the Colonel and his twin sister.


Woof, Louise Erdrich, I love your writing. Imagery that keeps haunting my imagination. Breathtaking prose that has the capacity to make my blood curdle just as much as it makes me smile in awe and admiration . I got LAROSE queued up. Because, girl, you gots the goods.

[Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
NEW ERDRICH SHORT STORY COLLECTION ! ! ! ! ! !
THERE IS HOPE IN THIS HELLSCAPE WE'RE LIVING IN AFTER ALL.

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Python's Kiss is a varied collection containing elements of sci-fi, magic, and everyday life. Erdrich touches on darkness, but the overall tone is warm, wise, and playful. I listened to the audiobook narrated by her daughter Pallas Erdrich and also read the print book with illustrations by her daughter Aza Erdrich Abe.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirteen short stories that reflect Erdrich’s unique exploration of the American psyche. The title story chronicles a young girl’s kinship with a lovesick dog and a mysterious ‘kiss’ from a python. The standout is ‘The Hollow Children’ whereby a group of barflies in northern Minnesota reminisce about a deadly 1923 blizzard that shifts to the POV of school bus driver Ivek’s account in which he describes how he was forever changed by his harrowing drive with a bus full of children.

Erdrich explores the concept of a human-engineered afterlife in a place called Asphodel. “You say goodbye. to your body very carefully…the goodbye tongue, that loved the kisses and also the body of my husband”. There is a humorous story about a failed actor that marries a woman who comes from a line of loud snorers in ‘Big Cat’.

There is a range of voices and styles that put Erdrich’s talents on full display.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of us who have read her for years will recognize her characteristic mix of earthiness and spirituality with a sideways reference to the matters of the day. I must admit that the magical realism of some stories didn't reach me, but her other stories were pure gold.

[Holly R W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, Erdrich's collection of stories was a mixed bag for me. I started some stories and couldn't finish them. Some I found troubling. And, some I liked. The ones I liked were:

* Wedding Dresses - features an aunt telling her inquisitive niece about her four marriages, each marriage symbolized by one of her four wedding dresses.

* Borsalino - is the story of a woman married to an abusive husband and how she was able to free herself. The borsalino is her remarkable hat with an inner snakeskin band, which has a part in the tale.

* Assassin - is a game that a mother's teen-aged daughter plays that is similar to paintball. In the midst of playing the game, the teen's friend puts herself in a risky situation. It has a twisty ending that was fun.

* December 26 - portrays a mother who slowly becomes aware that her 19 year old son is in deep trouble, criminally and otherwise. The story is heart-felt and multi-faceted.

* Amelia - is about a friendship between a high school senior and a retired man. She is a misfit at her school and he has some eccentricities. I found the story's ending to be a bit silly.


I am rating the collection 3 stars due to my mixed reaction.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this all the stars, all the constellations of stars! I LOVE this. It might be my favorite book I’ve read this year! This is the fourth collection of short stories I have read for the Tournament of Books Summer Camp. Erdrich’s storytelling is perfection, the exact right amount of the essential details, descriptions, dialogs, reflections, to communicate the meaning while creating the perfect pacing, tension, resolutions, atmosphere. The writing is so beautiful, poetically evocative and original, the characters and settings brought to such life in such short story spans. The stories cover themes of life’s meaning (human and animal), human connections with animals, importance of respect in relationships, deep healing that is possible from small acts of kindness, the shattering difficulties of moving on through grief, whether revenge is satisfying, generational differences and divisions, danger of women and children in abusive relationships and difficulty getting free from them, the absurdity of the US valuing gun rights over the lives of school children, criminal drug dealing and murder and exotic animals, the joy in a simple humble caring life, the violence of jealousy, complexity of identity, and the place of an individual life in the immensity of the universe. Some of the stories are speculative, some include magical realism, most feature Erdrich’s characteristic earthy Native American sense of spirituality. In addition, this is a visually beautiful book with fascinating illustrations by the author’s daughter, Aza Erdrich Abe.

SPOILER ALERT: Following are spoilery summaries and notes on each of the stories that are for my own attempts to process and retain all of these stories. If you wish to avoid spoilers, do not read them.

Python’s Kiss—I loved this story about an eight-year-old girl (told from her first-person perspective) becoming aware of the meaning of life and mortality, the arbitrariness of existence, and connections beyond herself as she spends a few weeks living with her grandparents and their grocery store/butcher shop/slaughterhouse while her mother delivers and takes home a new baby. One of the ways she helps with the family business is feeding Nero, the huge white wolf-like guard dog who is not a pet and not treated with any affection:

“As I looked into his eyes, which were the same brownish gold as mine, I had my first sensation of self-awareness. I realized that my human body, my human life, was arbitrary. I could have been a dog. An exhilarating sadness gripped me, and then I felt the first intimations of sympathy for another form of creation, for Nero, who had to eat guts from an old pie tin. In the kitchen, there was a ceramic cookie jar…always filled with gingersnaps… . I took two cookies to the back door, opened it a crack, and tossed one of them toward Nero. He caught it with a jump. … After that, it became my custom to take a few gingersnaps to the door and toss them to Nero, in the spirit of secretly aiding a fellow prisoner. For I had a confused sensation that we were both captive—in different bodies, true, but with only one dark way out.”

After Nero climbs the seven-foot fence of his pen and escapes, “When Nero finally turned up, hungry for his supper, I was disappointed that he hadn’t kept on running, found his way up north, and joined a wolf pack.” This shot me right back into my own isolated nine-year-old summer, after my father was killed, reading alone in the hot midwestern shade, wanting to turn into a wolf-dog and run off with Buck and White Fang in the Klondike and Yukon.

Trying to understand her grandparents planning to host a fight between Jurgen, one of their sons, and neighbor Mr. Gamrod, father of the woman to whom the son has proposed marriage, she connects it in her mind to an exotic animal show gone awry that she had seen during her first year of school:

“[T]he [escaped African rock] python glided into the mob of children. … slid among the chair legs, and, as if in a nightmare, I fell directly before it. I looked straight into its impartial, primordial face. Its tongue flickered, …the forked tip touched me just above my upper lip, on the right cheek. That’s all. It did not open its jaws to try to swallow me whole. It moved away. … The python had, what, tasted me, scented me? Kissed me? The touch of its tongue had been dry and lighter than the stroke of a sable paintbrush. Yet the touch left me with a vast feeling I have yet to name. It was more than a sensation. It was as though I had been chosen—marked for wisdom or maybe sorrow. Or perhaps, I think now, a sense of the ridiculous in these extremes of experience.” (Or induction into the House of Slytherin!)

After the fight, “Mr. Gamrod could not stop talking about his trip to the other world. … how in the clutch of Jurgen’s limbs he had died and come to life again. … suspended in a timeless present that held the key to … something. He’d felt his arm pound the earth just as he was about to grasp the meaning of it. A few days later, he realized he was no longer afraid. After death he would understand the answers to questions that in this life he couldn’t even put into words.”

I thought about how this is what great literature (or any great art, really) does to me, with the irony here that words can make me feel a wordless understanding that seems to come from something deeper, beyond, soul touching spiritual connection (that I here, ironically again, try to put into words).

And “snirt”, that lingering dirty snow! Now I want to move even further north!

Wedding Dresses—When a January thaw causes a burst pipe in a basement storage closet, ruining Dora’s wedding dresses she has kept, she reflects on her four marriages. The first was with a wealthy ambitious bully of a white man in New York City who cut off her long hair while she slept; the second with a traditional Cree man in a tribal ceremony, that lasted until she found out he was cheating on her with a “pretendian” who claimed their relationship was nonsexual and “sacred”; the third with a “thoroughly kind” man in a Pipe ceremony wedding with no papers, which lasted until his growing drinking problem (which never made him unkind) was certain to result in his death, and she did not want to watch him die (which he did); the fourth was with a woman Roberta (perhaps too soon on the heels of the loss of the third husband), who lied and said she had told all her family and ex-husband about the marriage, but when Dora found out otherwise, her excuse was not that she was ashamed or uncomfortable but that the relationship was “sacred”, so Dora left and never gave Roberta a divorce. The only spouse she missed and mourned was the helpless alcoholic because he respected her even when he was at his lowest, he had been true to her, and never lied to her. A fable about how respect is the key to happy marriage?

The Hollow Children—A volunteer bus driver with a bus full of children suddenly is engulfed in an April blizzard (the weather of the upper midwest of the US can be so violent and unpredictable), but miraculously gets the children safely to school, spurred on by a horrific waking nightmare vision of the bus tumbling into the lake because he can’t see where they are going but knows it would be deadly to stop the bus in the blizzard. He is severely shaken by the experience but is cured by one of the children (who had worked to keep morale of the other children up during the ordeal) who brings him a cup of hot water steeped with a piece of boiled wool she’d cut from her coat—an old cure her mother used for wind sickness, “times when the mind could no longer bear the wind’s moans and mumbles and a person started hearing human voices.”

Love of My Days—John Timble, who had a luckless hard life returns to a farm where he had worked when he was younger and fallen in love with one of the farmer’s daughters, Beatril. She loved him too, but died while he was out traveling in pursuit of work. He’s been gone long enough that only Beatril’s sister Karlet recognizes him. He foolishly tries to take over the old farmhouse from its current owner, Jake Weir, then carelessly shoots and kills Sheriff Flower and runs off with Weir’s prize mother and son horse team, finally resulting in Bedeck shooting the mother horse, resulting in Timble’s end with visions of Beatril at his side. Timble understands the horse son’s loss.

“Once the tack and harness was untangled, the son lifted himself away from his mother. He stood alone as he was being rubbed dry with hay. When half of you is gone, the half left behind begins its long descent into a cold strange barn. No matter how warm you get you are never warm and no matter how much you eat you are never full. You are out of the harness but somehow pulling the entire weight.”

Domain—A woman purchases an expensive corporate AI luxury afterlife in a place called Asphodel with careful plans to get revenge on her father for preventing her son’s afterlife because of the father’s religious beliefs, which the daughter does not share, and which the father hypocritically turned from to obtain his own luxury afterlife in Asphodel. But the daughter does not get the result she hoped for and instead experiences the worse thing she could imagine. Perhaps vengeance is the worse sin, revenge the most evil act because it is not only hatred, but acting on hatred? Does it really help, does anyone feel better after getting revenge?

Asphodel—A strange story of another corporate AI purchased afterlife that may reflect the tensions between generations like those in life. (This is the same afterlife place as in the above story, but this story seems unrelated.) A selfish mother clings to a daughter even though this requires the daughter to constantly go through painful regenerations, until the daughter takes control, obliterates her mother’s existence, and takes her mother’s place under the afterlife contract; but the daughter behaves in unprecedented wanton ways that are destructive to the entire created afterlife world. Is this metaphorical for both current generational divisions and for the current political climate? How AI hallucinations can make things go awry?

Borsalino—A treasured hat with a rattlesnake skin band lining and a usually harmless Venetian ghost help protect a woman and her daughters from a dangerously, perhaps murderously, abusive husband/father when no one else seems to be able or willing to do so.

Assassin—At least in the US, each generation of young people face violence and the adults in control don’t do as much as they could to prevent it, like voting for lawmakers who would take real action.

“Like many parents of teenagers, Maxine liked driving her daughter places because that was when Crimson really talked to her.”

“‘Did you guys play Assassin back then? … No, you didn’t,’ said Crimson. ‘You got drafted. I mean boys did. We read about it. Did you march or anything? You wore hippie clothes.’”

“Had she done the right thing in naming her daughter Crimson? It was a luscious word. Her daughter loved it. But Maxine feared it would always mark her as the child of a parent of a certain era. The era in which ‘Crimson and Clover’ played constantly over loudspeakers at the town swimming pool.” (And roller skating rink, depending on the town.)

“‘You’re done. No more. It’s not a good game,’ said Maxine. … ‘I don’t know, Mom,’ said Crimson. ‘Is this worse than active shooter drills? Maybe we’re playing for practice. How do you think you’d deal with it? You guys can’t know. Who or what comes down the hall? Through your classroom door? We’re scared.’
‘Every day,’ said Ella.”

December 26—I loved this story so much it has left me aching for more. Please, Louise, expand this so that it is just a chapter in your next novel! I want, no need, more of these characters! This story has a spirit kindred with the first season of the Robert Redford/George R.R. Martin TV series Dark Winds, though set in the far north midwest (“near water and near Canada”) rather than the desert southwest. A struggling single mom of teenagers, a daughter and a son, the son finding himself involved in dangerous drug dealings because of his caring about animals (particularly dogs), a found baby, a boa constrictor, other exotic animals, a tiger involved in grisly deaths, murder(?), an imperfect cheating but kind and well-meaning ex-husband, a brother who is a tribal police officer who clearly knows more than he lets on, clash between Catholicism and tribal religion, sage leaf smoke smudges to “remove, you know, any untoward energy.” I’m addicted, I need more of this in my life! I need to read everything Erdrich has written and maybe also Tony Hillerman's "Leaphorn and Chee" novels.

The Feral Troubadour—Such a wonderful sense of humor in this story about a man’s poetry bathroom/feral cat taming room, a beach-side strolling guitar-playing singer burglar, and a couple of helpful police officers that brings out the joy in simple, humble expectations in a life based on caring.

“I am a sparrow trying to imitate an indigo bunting. But I don’t mind. I have modest requirements, and not all poets have to be published. I waste no trees.”

“The cat stares fixedly at me, eyes of lemon gold shrouded and filled with an unreadable expression somehow like my own eyes. We are alike. Our needy bodies, our thrumming hearts.”

“Can it be that all of us upon waking sometimes feel malformed or broken, foolish, as we huddle in our nests all over the earth? Perhaps, I think, this pit of shame with our perspective is the true human connection. Perhaps this sharing of soul dregs is what makes it possible to write a poem.” (And why the song Creep is so popular.) “My heart is full of this thought but I end up writing about the kind woman who loves cats. She has called to tell me that the cat was tamed instantly by seeing another cat in her lap, eating treats. Perhaps this will spare the indigo bunting, but I”d also be happy with a sparrow. The most I can probably aspire to is to be counted among the people who care for the small, the ordinary, the overlooked creatures of the earth. Because I am one, …”

I had been thinking that, so far, the stories that had snake references were my favorites, but now there’s this!

Big Cat—Not sure I get this one about a man and and a snoring woman Elida from Minnesota who meet and marry in Hollywood, have a daughter Valery and just as his acting career looks to take off (and her film editing career did not) she decides they need to return to Minnesota for high school, ending their Hollywood careers. They end up divorcing and soon he remarries a wealthy pleasant blond Laurene, then the ex-wife proposes an affair that ends up in his divorce from Laurene and a monetary settlement. Looking at a little movie of edited-together clips of the man’s acting bits Elida had made when they left Hollywood, he realizes that it was a mean depiction of him and sees their relationship from the beginning differently. He envisions Elida and her snoring sisters as lionesses feeding on prey that includes him. Was she jealous and always ruined things that were going well for him? Just incapable of love? Did she even cause Valery pain to suit her goals? My least favorite story in this collection so far.

Amelia—One of those highly original, unexpected, kind-of-weird-in-a-very-interesting-way stories that are why I love Louise Erdrich. In around 1970 a Native American teenage girl who is a bit of a misfit because she is brighter and more outspoken than most of the people she is around in her small town gets a job at the new Kentucky Fried Chicken so she can make and save money for college. Things don’t go as well as she had hoped, but she does become friends with an odd Black retired college biology professor, Mr. Ponath, who gives her work cleaning his home and ends up helping pay for her college expenses. But mystery swirls around Mr. Ponath’s twin sister Amelia, who died after becoming ill and falling off a cruise ship. Or did she? Are both Mr. Ponath and Amelia real? Is only one of them real? Which one? Is this a story of an individual shifting identities to get by in a society in which prejudices limit opportunities? Or a story of finding one’s true gender identity? Or a story about the unique relationship between identical twins? Thought-provoking questions entertainingly raised, not answered.

The Stone—A woman has a nearly lifelong relationship with a stone she finds during the summer when she is a child. The stone has a calming effect on her. This story seems to contemplate our timeless connection, oneness, with the Earth and the universe in all of their cycles, of life, of growth, of water, and even of rock—a sort of scientific conservation-of-matter naturalist spiritual concept of afterlife: “she dreamed she had entered a new episode of time, in which she and the stone would become the same through the endless repetition and decay of all things in the universe. Molecules that had existed in her body would be joined with the stone’s molecules, over and over in age after age. Flesh would become stone and stone become flesh, and someday they would meet in the mouth of a bird.”

https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2026/...
(Interview with Louise Erdrich and Aza Erdrich Abe on Minnesota Public Radio’s Big Books & Bold Ideas podcast)

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/po...
(New York Times Book Reviews Podcast interview)

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

These dynamic stories feature quirky characters with a slightly off-kilter, and downright dangerous feel to them.

In trying to identify the major themes of the collection, I landed on:

the myriad of ways in which we reveal who we really are,

the power that is born of being underestimated,

our tendency to destroy as tied inextricably to our need to create,

the discovery that any safe place can also double as a prison,

the understanding that though we are shaped by more than just our experiences, they also leave indelible marks upon us.

Erdrich does such an exceptional job at painting a picture you can see in your mind's eye, and the character descriptions are equally precise. These stories must have been rattling around in her head a long time. You can see how much thought she put into each one, over a long time period.

The illustrations are also a really nice touch. I found myself returning to them as I wandered deeper into each story.

Most of the stories pack a punch. Only two seem to lack the gravitas of the others. Your mileage may vary. Still, the anguish in most of these stories is hard, fast, and lingering.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louise Erdrich worked alongside her daughter, Aza Erdrich Abe to create this book. Aza’s illustrations are wonderful. Initially, I checked out the Eaudiobook narrated by her daughter Pallas Erdrich, and the illustrations are supplied as a supplement, which meant I could view them online. I decided not to continue with the audiobook and checked out a print copy instead.

Each story is unique and very different from the others in the collection. However, I found several of these stories disquieting, and I didn't enjoy them as much as I thought I would. I much prefer Louise Erdrich's full-length novels.

I appreciated the term 'history farming' which I wasn't familiar with, as read in the story, "The Hollow Children." Here is the term in context: "At the Tabor bar, around beer number four, the men sometimes got into history farming, trading stories of their antecedents' exploits and agonies."

[Britta · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this collection of short stories (some might be familiar as they're a compilation/reworking of works she has published in various literary publications), Louise Erdrich reminds me why she’s one of my very favorite authors. As in her other works, her characters feel like the folks you left behind in your small town. Her world-building is unlike any other author I've encountered, but there's a je na sa quois (did I spell the right??) about them that I just can't put my finger on. The worlds she creates feel familiar—like being reminded of a dream you'd had months or years before. This is quintessential Louise Erdrich, so you're sure to get everything you love about her from this book like I did. I'd still say LaRose or The Round House are my faves, but this was good.

Many center around the small fictional town of Tabor. In one, we follow a little girl as she watches her favorite uncle fall in love with a lady whose father is a formidable fighter. In another (my favorite) we ride along on a school bus as it rolls along lost on the prairie in a blizzard.

Most of the stories land just this side of magical realism (or maybe very very light sci-fi?) and I love them for it. Wonderful job, Louise Erdrich!

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been savoring every bit of Louise Erdrich's writing I can get my hands on since way back when Love Medicine first came out. In general, I am not a reader of short fiction. I like a tale I can sink into (even wallow about in). But I feel like if Erdrich strung together a passage of three words, it would speak to me. Erdrich's writing straddles the divide between magic and ordinary, between blessings and curses. Python's Kiss is no exception.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss+; the opinions are my own.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully varied stories from the fertile imagination of one of our most honored authors, enhanced by artwork from the author’s daughter, Aza Erdrich Abe.

[Alison]

A group of previously-published short stories (most appeared in the New Yorker). I rarely enjoy short stories, but was excited to see a brand-new book by Erdrich, an author I’ve been following since reading The Round House long before I was active on GR. Joke’s on me – these are previously-published short stories, most of which appeared in the New Yorker, not “new” work, but I hadn’t read them anyway, so I guess it wasn’t a bad joke after all.

As is so often the case, the stories were mixed and I suspect that different readers will have different favorites. Mine, by far, was “Love of My Days,” set in the slow-news rural West, where news of a man’s crime could travel more slowly than he did. I especially appreciated the way Erdrich could convey the beauty of a truly paired team of horses here. I’d never thought about the importance of the match.

“The Hollow Children” followed a busdriver’s desperate attempt to save a bus full of schoolchildren when their morning drive to school is caught up in a blizzard that makes a mockery of the idea of a road as something separate from the land on either side.

“Wedding Dresses” effectively told a story in two keys, once in the mind of the protagonist/narrator and once in the way she was willing to share it with her niece. That offered interesting reflections on stories kept for oneself and stories shared.

“Domain” and “Asphodel” seemed to be experiments in science fiction, which I hope Erdrich enjoyed writing. It’s always good to try something new, I guess. These didn’t work for me.

By the second half of the book I found myself less engaged. “Amelia” almost pulled me back in but the big reveal wasn’t revealing and relied on a kind of shock at what is, in my world, utterly normal.

All in all, a fine set of stories, at least one of which is likely to be appreciated by any Erdrich enthusiast.

PS The audiobook is ably read by Erdrich's daughter, Pallas Erdrich, which was an interesting touch.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect stories about imperfect people.

There are some speculative fiction stories in here, so I wanted to see what Erdrich did with science fictional or fantasy elements. However, the stories that I liked most were those that didn't have those elements. like 'Big Cat' and 'Wedding Dresses'. (Well, perhaps 'Borsalino', with the eternal guide to Venice, is an exception.)

Erdrich's stories are full of pathos and regret, but some are actually quite funny. 'Big Cat' has a lengthy description of a highlights reel of all the little moments in hundreds of movies a bit player showed up on screen, and some hilarious descriptions of people snoring. If snoring was an Olympic sport, these would be gold medalists.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection really surprised me. What an incredible range! And the illustrations were beautiful.

[Alena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a Erdrich fan. I love how all of her writing is suffused in her perspective as a Native American. In the case of the short story collection, the stories are not necessarily about the Native American experience but it is the base layer for every story’s perspective. And I appreciate it.
However, I think I prefer Errich in novel form. As with her books, there are many layers to her storytelling and her characters are never easy. She caught my attention in each story but it took me a while to catch her rhythm and, by the time I was in the groove, the story was ending. Plus, as with her novels, there’s so much sadness and heartbreak, and in short story format it feels relentless.
So, certainly not my favorite Erdrich, but still high quality writing and something that is unlike anything else I’ve been reading. It doesn’t fit neatly into any of Goodreads stars so I’m going right down the middle.

[Jennifer Spiegel]

The thing about Louise Erdrich that I like is that she can kinda just take any old topic and make it interesting, like even if I don't love the topic, her writing is compelling and beautiful. So, the reader ends up thinking, "Wait. What happened next at Kentucky Fried Chicken? You said what about the coleslaw?"

“December 26” was my favorite, however.

I bet the author has a cat. I'm going to look it up.

Sounds like she loves animals but she's more of a dog person!

[Nick O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a free advance copy of this book on Goodreads, so I suppose it's only good form to share my thoughts. This really isn't a review, it's just a record of my thoughts as I read through each story, trying to figure out what each was about. These thoughts will probably make little sense to you.

I will also say that I really dig Erdrich’s writing, her mythic and magical realism, and her shout-outs to Minnesota that perfuse her works. I feel this weird pride about living in the same community as her.

***

These are stories about children, and death, not snakes per se. Children who, despite honest and curious engagement with the world, do not see the fullness of the world we inhabit, with its dangers and cruelties and inequities. Or perhaps they just experience the world differently than we adults do, or remember having done? Or maybe they do see the darkness in the world, and just manage it better? Or worse? Children and death, though, not snakes.

Pythons Kiss
A child witnesses suffering and jealousy, but only just begins to think of blame. She sees an uncle who tames others, through charm or persistence or cruelty or brute force. What doesn’t a child notice, or remember? If a python's kiss gives you a blessing, it's the mercy of ignorance. Or maybe just the opposite, and now the child is just waking up to reality?

Wedding Dresses
The tension between an honest recounting of past love-and-loss, and what you’d tell a child about the world.

The Hollow Children
A child, calm, wise and unafraid in the face of near annihilation, giving comfort to a man who nearly couldn’t manage his responsibility to her. Did she even exist? Was she, in fact ... a snake? j/k

Love of My Days
My favorite story in this book. Also thematically distinct from the rest of the collection, unless you squint a bit and see family lore being told to the grandkids. A man, given a second chance at life after a near-death experience, takes a darker path. The reader is escorted through the action from one perspective to another (and without resorting to those choppy chapterized rotating perspectives — IYKYK), including from that of a horse! The characters inhabit a tight knit rural community, but seemingly lack connection, that is, until the last page when much is made clear. At times I wondered what the hell this story was going to be about, but in retrospect every hint had been placed just so. So many themes and impressions fit within a mere 13 pages, a lovingly edited story that could easily be 10 times its length. Imagine a Cormac McCarthy western left on the stove for a few days, reducing away.

This collection should really be titled Love of My Days (which incidentally could work in support of the themes about children). But alas no asp, I guess.

There are also some typos in my copy -- hopefully the author decides on the name of the Deputy before the final version goes to print!

Domain
A woman seeks revenge upon her father in the afterlife, a story with a twist you see coming miles away. Written like Philip K Dick's take on the Pieta.

Asphodel
Be careful what you wish for. A woman learns in the afterlife that the bottled genie is a trickster. Her daughter bests that genie. This one is also Philip K Dick's take on the Pieta.

Borsalino
A surprisingly dark tale of regret and menace, with a resolution only made possible by the selflessness of a mother. If a python's kiss gives you a blessing, it's that of perserverence.

Assassin
The games that children play, how children choose to interact with each other, as a reflection (or simulation) of the environment they grow up in. Note: this game is an actual thing here in the Twin Cities.

December 26
Most heartfelt. When a son reaches adulthood, and experiences the Consequences of his poor decisions, what responsibilities does a mom have? If a python's kiss gives you a blessing, it's that of a second chance, but the universe will always take its pound of flesh.

The Feral Troubadour
This is that “Squirrel Cop” tale from a late 90’s episode of This American Life, except every conceivable role has been reversed.

Big Cat
Parents sacrifice their dreams for the well-being of a child, but then the husband can’t sustain the relationship. They are brought back together first by familiarity, but then by guilt. Was their reunion really an elaborate ploy by the jaded wife? Is this renewed relationship sustainable? Lots of snoring but no snakes.

Amelia
A lovely tale about a child piecing together a mystery, with a twist I didn’t see coming until I was meant to. No snakes, but plenty of bad cole slaw.

The Stone
We ascribe meaning to things. Things can give us confidence and comfort, maybe, but they do not have agency except what we invent in our minds. The stone is a metaphor. But not a snake.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis: Written over the past two decades, Louise Erdrich’s magnificent story collection features a range of characters—a tribal newsletter editor whose son tells her a story that nothing in her experience can encompass, immigrant farmers whose tenuous hold on the earth, and sanity, is challenged, and ordinary people, bird lovers, artists, grade-school teachers, and romantics. A girl decides to spend her life with a stone. A man is confronted with a folk-singing thief. A woman enters a corporately owned afterlife to seek revenge on her father.

I love Louise Erdrich - her ability for storytelling is dynamic and compelling. This is an excellent collection of her short stories she has written over the past two decades. I flew through this in a single day! As with all short story collections, I enjoyed some more than others. I definitely have some favorites in here that were incredibly unique and interesting, demanding my attention entirely, while others did not speak to me as much. I will say there is a wide variety of genres, characters, settings, and situations in these stories, switching up the narrative from one to the next. Overall, this is a fantastic collection that I would highly recommend to others, especially if you enjoy her other works.

I think it is also worth mentioning that the collaboration on this collection was a family affair, which I did not learn until after finishing it - the cover art was done by Louise’s daughter Aza and the narrator of the audiobook was her daughter Pallas! The cover art is absolutely stunning and the narration was excellent and engaging as well! I was lucky enough to receive a physical copy from the publisher but also was able to get my hands on the audiobook so I could do an immersive read and it significantly elevated my reading experience.

Thank you to Louise Erdrich, Harper, and NetGalley for the gifted copy! This is a voluntary and honest review.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, unique, interesting, diverse, quirky, sometimes bordering on weird (and that's OK) collection of stories that demonstrates that Erdrich is a compelling storyteller.

I think this is the ninth Erdrich book I've read. Not my favorite, and I often find the short-story format sub-optimal in book form, but I very much enjoyed it.

Frankly, I love that the stories are preceded by the author's daughter's illustrations. What a nice touch!

I expect everyone will be drawn to different stories, but my favorites included: Wedding Dresses, Amelia, and the Stone. I'm curious to learn which ones others were most enamored by.

Reviewer's quirky takes:

First, I was intrigued by Erdrich's vacillation between female, male, and third-person narration or voices. I found all of them equally convincing, so, to some extent, I applaud the author's willingness to try/include all three.

Also, this is one of those examples where my lazy GR convention of lumping many things - including, here, mysticism and magical realism ... and, who knows, maybe speculative fiction ... onto my crowded sci-fi and fantasy shelf, reflects nothing more than a longstanding habit that I don't have much incentive to adjust at this point in my GR usage.

[Jason Laipply · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories from indigenous author Louise Erdrich, gems all, and weaving together so many of Erdrich’s favorite topics : family, belonging, spiritual connection to places and the environment, loss, confusion, enduring hard things, and so many of the mysteries that make up the human condition.

Loved this collection from start to finish, highly recommended.

Individual Story Ratings

Python’s Kiss - 5⭐️
Wedding Dresses - 5⭐️
The Hollow Children - 4⭐️
Love of My Days - 4.5⭐️
Domain - 4.5⭐️
Asphodel - 4.5⭐️
Borsaline - 5⭐️
Assassin - 5⭐️
December 26 - 4.5⭐️
The Feral Troubadour - 3.5⭐️
Big Cat - 4⭐️
Amelia - 5⭐️
The Stone - 5⭐️

[Ehrrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is there anything that Louise Erdrich can't do?

[Care · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Just when I was saying short stories aren't for me, they just aren't punchy as often as I want them to be...I'm entranced by my favourite author. What do I know? What is this mere reader to a god? 🙌🏻 I'm born again.

Sure, there's a couple in here that don't hit as hard as the rest. But it's a stunning ratio and there's no duds. There are some new all-time favourite short stories in this collection. Erdrich continues to enchant me with her rich characterization, funny dialogue, and original concepts.

"Python's Kiss", "Wedding Dresses", and "The Hollow Children" are the most accomplished three stories in the collection and open us up to her imaginative and confident voice. They're devastating, memorable, and capture so much intensity in just a few pages.

I love the snake theme running through several of the stories including "Python's Kiss", "Borsalino", and "December 26". A rhythm that runs through and binds them together without sacrificing their individuality.

The science fiction afterlife world we're introduced to in "Domain" and "Asphodel" is weird and wonderful. Hard to describe, but captivating to read.

I laughed at a troubadour, cried for a dog, felt the cold of an April blizzard and a frozen field and the warmth of moss. As always, I bow down to the master. She doesn't have a golden era, it's been this way the whole time. From Love Medicine and Jacklight to Python's Kiss.

[Stephan Benzkofer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This selection of short stories sizzles. Provocative. Exciting. Thrilling. Varied.

This edition is illustrated to great effect by the author's daughter. Her art opens each story, and I enjoyed going back to the illustrations after finishing each one. The images helped me encounter the story in fresh ways, like flash-reading them a second time.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The python had, what, tasted me, scented me? Kissed me?”

New term I learned - ‘pretendian’ - a fake Indian

I was lucky enough to have read two of these stories, “The Hollow Children” “Love of My Days” a few years back in the New Yorker!
I really liked “Wedding Dresses”! I did not enjoy “Domain” or “Asphodel”.
“Assassin” request hit home as I have a teenage daughter who also really only talks to me when we are driving AND just finished playing a game like that at her school!
And overall, I just really enjoyed reading this collection, except for the two mentioned before. I was super tickled at the way in which the author described different family's snoring sounds in "Big Cat", and her descriptions of people, places, and events throughout the book really made me feel like a part of each story! She's just an amazing author!

[Dr. Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of stories. Some great tales on life, death, vengeance, and the cruelty of reality.
Highlights for me were "The Stone," "December 26," and "Python's Kiss."
Great stuff!

[Elyse Wanzenried · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louise Erdrich horror short story series when? Also she has clearly been thinking about AI and although I hate that for her, two very interesting short stories came out of it.