Sinking Bell: Stories

by Bojan Louis

Potent stories that offer a forceful vision of contemporary Navajo life, by an American Book Award winner

An ex-con hired to fix up a school bus for a couple living off the grid in the desert finds himself in the middle of their tattered relationship. An electrician’s plan to take his young nephew on a hike in the mountains, as a break from the motel room where they live, goes awry thanks to an untrustworthy new coworker. A night custodian makes the mistake of revealing too much about his work at a medical research facility to a girl who shares his passion for death metal. A relapsing addict struggles to square his desire for a white woman he meets in a writing class with family expectations and traditions.

Set in and around Flagstaff, the stories in Sinking Bell depict violent collisions of love, cultures, and racism. In his gritty and searching fiction debut, Bojan Louis draws empathetic portraits of day laborers, metalheads, motel managers, aspiring writers and musicians, construction workers, people passing through with the hope of something better somewhere else. His characters strain to temper predatory or self-destructive impulses; they raise families, choose families, and abandon families; they endeavor to end cycles of abuse and remake themselves anew.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Indigenous, Contemporary, Native American, Literary Fiction, Realistic Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Juliet Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't typically read a lot of short story collections but this one was a fortunate exception. Each story while standing alone, weaves a common thread between them, making the reader feel like they are peeking into the private journal shared between characters. The author has such a powerful voice, it is easy to get lost in his words and become ingrained in the tales. Happy endings are subjective and each segment leaves off in a solitary moment, causing the reader to wonder what happens next. This is a window into a fragile and gritty world many of us never see, yet draws us in with a sense of familiarity and commonality. Highly recommend.

[Willow Heath]

Written by Diné Native American poet, writer, and teacher Bojan Louis, Sinking Bell is a short collection of eight literary stories which explore and expose the raw and difficult lives of Navajo people in the modern day. All of these stories are set in and around the town of Flagstaff, Arizona, and the tell the stories of labourers, addicts, artists, wanderers, and even ghosts.

My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/essential-lit...

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of years ago, I went on a quest to find books written by indigenous authors of North America. I came across Sinking Bell, a collection of short stories written by Bojan Louis. I say this often, but it's always true. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read these stories.

This collection shares stories of Navajo life in modern southwestern United States. The stories aren't pretty. The characters in this book live rough lives. My heart breaks for them over and over. But there is an overarching feeling of hope. I can't read any dark or gritty book that doesn't have some hope. The characters in these pages are all reaching, striving, hoping for a better future.

A couple of the stories ventured toward folk horror, retelling or intertwining Navajo legend. "Make No Sound to Wake" was one of these. I was captivated throughout the story! Another was "Before the Burnings," which got a little gruesome, as well as sharing Navajo lore.

I don't have warm fuzzy feelings after finishing Sinking Bell. But I have a better understanding and empathy. I highly recommend this collection of short stories to anyone looking for a glimpse into the modern struggles of indigenous people of the southwest US. Four gritty stars from me. That fifth star is lacking only because I almost gave up after the first story. I saw no hope at all in it, and I was afraid the entire book would be as bleak. I'm glad I persevered. I would have missed out on a lot!

[Mark Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

'I knew the exhaustion of nostalgia, the self-deprecating regret, and how one could mourn the present'.

This will no doubt be right up there for read of the year. A fascinating collection of short stories told from various points of view of the Navajo community - a Native American people of Southwestern United States.

These are tales of struggle and persecution in and around Flagstaff, Arizona. Of tradesman and manual workers, of addiction and excess, of heavy metal, of colonial violence, and of love and hope when the odds are stacked against.

In 'Trickster Myths', a man navigates the wearisome back and forth of sobriety and relapse while pursuing a complex lover. 'Make no Sound to Wake' is a bleak Native American tale of violence and survival recounted by a woman persecuted in her youth by an evil tribe.

The Story 'Volcano', probably my favourite, is an account of a man living on the fringes of society as he works punishing hours on a construction site. The relentless work for little reward is exacerbated by his living situation: a seedy motel cohabited with his down syndrome son Jared and an estranged college girlfriend.

'As Meaningless as the Origin' is a powerful account of two Navajo tradesman carrying out manual work and living hand to mouth. They drink and smoke and frequent strip clubs - all with a soundtrack of black metal. It's terse, unapologetic and uneasy - documenting the racism and marginalisation of Native Americans.

'Silence' is a haunting account of alcoholism and the violence it projects both inwardly and outwardly to those unlucky enough to be around, and 'Usefulness' carries an overwhelming poignancy of nostalgia as a man confronts life after prison.

These stories will live long in the memory. Highly recommend. Thank-you to Harriet at Dead Ink Press for the copy.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Loved 'Make No Sound To Wake', enjoyed 'Volcano', 'Before the Burnings' and 'Usefulness', but the rest of the collection felt a bit flat/repetitive to me.

(Edit: interestingly three of these four are described in the collection blurb, so obviously the blurb writer felt similarly to me about which had the strongest premises).

[KayLynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bojan Louis--what a writer! This book is brilliant and beautifully written, with characters that draw you into each story. I loved this story collection and hope it gets the attention it deserves.

[Skylerhayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️/5⭐️

This collection of short stories was so unexpected. You can taste the grime, and oil, and dust of the communities and people presented, with a heavy emphasis on the fringe of indigenous people in the Arizona area. This is about people who scrape by, who use their hands for a living. It’s about the decisions they make, and are more often forced into it, almost guided by an unseen hand. This “unseen hand” hovers over all the stories, guiding people where they are meant to go. As the back blurb mentions, this collection shows people moving in and out of light, and in and out of understanding. People removed from their traditions but also creating something new in its midst, whether that be good or bad.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sexual, very lit major-y, captured these hidden lives of lower SES people. There was enough raw violence and bizarre happenings and desire for life to be better that the book feels vibrant and depressing at once. Some passages were really beautiful. The story with the bodies in the furnace was really disturbing and memorable. I really felt for the main character. It was fun how detailed the different worlds were throughout the book: we learn about the culture & knowledge or metal heads, mechanics, women escaping abuse, aspiring artists. I would recommend this to people.

[Franco Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

some of the most powerful, heart wrenching stories I've ever read.

[David Kuhnlein · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you read one story from this collection, make it "Before the Burnings"

[Lilly Partovi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool collection of short stories primarily centered around the Diné community in Flagstaff. I particularly liked Make No Sound to Wake and Before the Burnings. By the third or fourth story I started to get fed up with the over sexualization of female characters ( maybe the author had his reasons I don’t understand?) but it led to the stories blurring together and the male main characters feeling one dimensional at times

[kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

raw, violent, sexual and absolutely wonderful. filled with vivid imagery and engrossing stories. i won’t be forgetting this collection any time soon.

[Izzy Voigt · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were all very well-written and thought provoking. Most of them had pretty dark endings which is not my fav but I definitely still enjoyed it.

[Darth Reader]

Life is too short to read shit you ain't vibing with. Next thing to go in America: public libraries (you heard it hear first, folks). Might as well move on to the next book while I still can.

[Calila Vilas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Michelle]

It took me until the end of the collection to realize how wrong I was in describing the stories as 'dude writing for dudes' (my sincere apologies to the author). This is an incredibly well-crafted and powerful collection that will haunt me until I inevitably pick it up again some day. Definitely some CW of many varieties to keep in mind before reading.

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every now and then, I read something by a male author that makes me want to abandon society and find a women's commune to live in. This is one of those books.

Bojan Louis presents here a collection of short stories which portray contemporary Navajo life around the Southwest.

If you're going to read any of these stories, make it the second one, 'Make No Sound To Wake'. This one story feels distinctly different from what is otherwise a fairly monotonous collection.

I was hoping for a diverse group of characters, maybe a collection of stories focusing on characters of different ages, genders, sexualities, occupations. But I just read seven stories about young/middle aged men who work manual jobs, misuse drugs and alcohol, and objectify/abuse women.

I didn't feel I learned anything new about Navajo life, and because these were snapshots, I didn't connect with any of the characters.

I've enjoyed reading longer works — both fictional and autobiographical — that explore the way these particular issues of education, poverty, substance misuse, and domestic violence, pervade Native American / Canadian communities. And I've found sympathy for those stories and the anger expressed through them. But as shorter pieces.... I just felt disgusted by the characters' attitudes and actions, lacking any context.

Maybe it'd feel different if I were reading these stories and able to relate to them more from a lived angle. I'm not sure. But all I got from it was a strong hope that none of the men I know share the mindsets and attitudes of Bojan Louis' characters.

Thanks to Dead Ink Books for sending me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a difficult book to write about as I didn't enjoy it and I hate to outright not recommend independently published titles, but I do promise honesty in my reviews

[Jamie]

"Instead, I thought back to an interaction with my mom. I couldn't tell if she was feeling well or not, since she keeps her words short and has even been called stoic by people who are unable--too stupid, really--to think or imagine beyond that stereotype of Navajos or any other Natives in general."

"Navajos, especially old-head Navajos, view wealth and happiness in terms of family size--children, grandchildren. It always seemed to me that to be, or end up, alone was a circumstance deemed impoverished, destitute. My parents had only me and my sister, neither one of us with any obvious potential to produce grandchildren other than by accident."

"Looking away from his mother and the strange man, he joined in Nia's excitement as she pulled out a doll with wheat-colored hair and pinkish skin. Its blue eyes were vacant, though they seemed to follow everyone in the hogan. I wondered if the Bilgáana had themselves begun to use black magic to steal away and change our people. The leveling of land and livestock, trees resembling the deformed bones of the dead--if this violence and cruelty hadn't been enough for them. ... She walked the doll along the floor, mimicking the way the Bilgáana spoke. Yada-yada-yada, yada-yada-yada."

"Anglo locals see the drunks as destitute pests, always hustling with the same story of how they just need a few more bucks for a bus ticket out. The way these locals tell it, it seems as if every Navajo, every Native person, is like this, as if our entire population exists on handouts and escapism--they dismiss a culture's minute percentage of fuckups as an epidemic."

"I'm learning what I can handle as I go along," I say. "But I expect that I'll take on too much at some point. It's the only way to really know your limits."
Lucas nods, drinks his beer.

"Dream as big as you can, she said, far beyond this place, and allow books to guide your imagination."

"Tony's second wife was burning eggs downstairs in the kitchen, the hot carbon stench of embryonic poultry smothering him like wet foam."

"It was only a matter of time before the lot sold and the ground was broken to build cramped, low-rise studio apartments that would be advertised as one-bedrooms with a partition between where the bed went and the rest of the living space. A door no longer defined a room."

"The fucking bullshit I've put up with from you fellas," she said. "Not you in particular, of course, but men. Just goddamned fucking men. I should have ditched Howie sooner, that's obvious from this perspective. And now. I've waited too long. Again." ... She was tired, not from anything that day or the ones before it, but from those facts recounted over and over in her head. I knew the exhaustion of nostalgia, the self-deprecating regret, and how one could mourn the present. What I didn't know was that one could eventually, under the right circumstances, make a choice, which is maybe what Thrush knew."

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought of the distance I had come, though I felt I hadn't come from anywhere in that moment, that I had always just been confined to a cell or lost in the wilderness, a circulating wind thrashing up places not seen or acknowledged by human eyes, by human hands. I was heading to a place or places where human hands had continued to remake and reshape a world I wasn't used to. And seeing what I thought to be joy emanating from Thrush, a joy of new and greater possibility, I wanted to be rooted to a place or to a practice. To arrange carefully, every day, the future of my hidden existence.

These stories are like a wide-angle view of indigenous lives around Flagstaff, Arizona, and show how they move through a gritty, desolate world at times trying to find beauty and redemption and at times I gasped at the insight or breakthrough a character would find, but there is no fantasy here, no happy endings guaranteed, but you want to read each one again.

He dreamed of volcanoes erupting suddenly, all at once. The town was the town he lived in but different, spread out, with houses overlooking cliffs that didn't exist. Lava poured from
the angry cones, fire ash fell from above, and cracks opened in the earth. Escape wasn't likely. Standing on a strip of land, he watched the black sky descend. Heat from beneath and above consumed him.

It's not belief. He's not a god or anything. Coyote is just someone we tell stories about, moral and creation tales. His chaotic behavior brings harmony, whether he has an adventure, comes to a realization or epiphany, or gets beaten to a pulp and dies. I mean, it shouldn't get all the useless attention it does, as if it were the whole basis of our culture and not just an element.

My mother worked herself to death keeping me alive. During her final years, she began to forget me. She no longer recognized what few possessions we owned or where we lived. Looking across the landscape, barren except for sand, she asked if she was able to go out and play with friends who didn't live too far off. She'd be home by sunset, she said. What heart-broke me most was waking one morning to find her more lost in her mind, building an invisible fire and stripping naked for a nonexistent ceremony, covering herself in invisible ash.

[Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took a chance on this book at a Native bookstore in Pittsburg, KS lured by the No Country for Old Men-eqsue cover. Rarely do I read short stories but Bojan Louis's capable hands guided me through a brutal and powerful reading experience that I was disappointed to end. Many of these stories are driven by traditional "masculine" characters and narrative arcs: electricians, general contractors, ex-cons, drug mules; scorned lovers; time-saving tips on hanging drywall in between bouts of alcoholism. Fortunately this book never succumbs to a tired trope because of its revealing, vulnerable portraits of Native characters struggling - and sometimes succeeding - to grasp with a contemporary world erected as a zero-sum game against their culture and identity. The best Native characters in the book, such the underemployed electrician wanting to take his cousin's ill child to see bats, or the general contractor duo with big dreams amidst the margins of Flagstaff - make this book rise above as a standout to a well-worn and familiar literary landscape. Throughout each story the stain of colonialism bubbles to the surface like a contemporary, with its barriers and chains remaining painfully present centuries after these lands were stolen from the indigenous ancestors. My favorite story was "Make No Sound to Wake," which is so experimental and breathtaking in its ambition that it left me speechless at the end. Highly recommend.

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I look back, thinking that only the matte black walls, the mirrors, lights, pole, faux-velvet-and-vinyl-seats will remain the same, the atmospheric voice of the DJ a steady and placating drone. The rest in interchangeable: the bouncers, the girls, the customers. And it seems we're all the same person coming from work with money meant for better things; coming from a job we lost, wishing that the next one lasts long enough to get us by; coming from nowhere only to follow someone who needs something from us into a room where we hope they at least turn on the light before closing us in.

In this collection of stories by Navajo author Bojan Louis people struggle to get by. They struggle to find a future and do their job and get paid what they are owed. Set in and around Flagstaff, Arizona, these characters all exist as outsiders on the margins of society. In Trickster Gods a young man who is trying to remain sober waits for his girlfriend to finish partying. In Volcano, another young man lives in a motel room with his cousin's son, a boy with Downs Syndrome, while trying to keep his job as an underpaid electrician. In Usefulness an ex-convict finds that the job he was hired to do is different from the one he ends up doing. In each of the stories, the characters fight against their pasts and against the circumstances they find themselves in. This is gritty, life on the edges stuff and hope comes hard in these sharply-written stories.

[Lottie Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A profound collection of short stories set in and around Flagstaff which threads together a community of outliers drifting through a violent and dangerous landscape. Parasitic men, runaways, musicians, loners, death mental enthusiasts, haunted families and burdened women. It feels as if Bojan Louis has left no stone unturned.

With powerful stifling prose and an ability to expose the furthest depths of suffering and plight. Louis writes about every single one of us. Gritty and provocative, each story is captured in a compelling narrative with each character unique and fully formed. Nothing in these stories feels like an after thought or an accident. Alongside the location and the community of indigenous people, there is a sense of longing that is threaded through each story.

Whether these characters long for love, for a better life or for one peaceful nights sleep - everything in this collection feels simultaneously lost and just in reach.

Thank you to Dead Ink for the advanced copy - published in the UK on 22/02.

[Katherina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was heading to a place or places where human hands had continued to remake and reshape a world I wasn't used to.

this is a book about contemporary Najavo life, and about the strength of those seeking dignity and meaning while living in a hell of someone else's creation.

the short stories closely follow the personal lives and concerns of his cast. however, Louis ensures the theme of systemic oppresion is clear in every single one of his stories. he peppers in enough details to make the discerning reader ask, but why did they end up in this situation? what factors shaped the community to develop this way?

another thing i love: Louis knows how to write women. I loved seeing then written with depth, including insight into the misogyny and oppression they face in marginalized communities, and the scant choices available to them.

4.5/5 stars

[Denis Maile · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of short stories. Every story was good, but it’s the stories rooted in reality that were my fav. The standout story is about a thirteen year old boy who goes to live with his cousin who isn’t that much older than him and somehow he finds his way into the classic line of work, underage chauffeur. He gets hooked up with a pager and finds his way into some trouble.

There’s no lack of grit on the pages of this book. Some of the people featured in these stories are beyond working-class. Taking place in grimy bars, dirty work sites, old school huts, and houses, even caves, this book goes places you wouldn’t have it pegged going. With a side of the spiritual, if you’re a fan of short story collections, I’d highly recommend this.

[Mi · Rating 1 out of 5]

First story or two showed promise, but the world-weary, jaded narration quickly became too
one-note and flat for my taste and attention span.
Coherent universe? Sure. OK language? I guess. Do I care about or engage with the characters and environment? Not for a second. Everything is covered and bogged down by narration. There's just too many words. Everything is expanded and explained leaving nothing for the reader to unpack. There's just word upon word upon word ... massive, dismal expanses of words. A short story should be just that: a short story. Not many pages in this book, yet, way too many pages in this book.

[Abby]

I pretty much knew what I was getting into, which is why this sat on the shelf for a year before I felt capable of reading it. I have not been anywhere near an emotional state that could handle this volume of grit, much as I enjoyed forgetting the title and asking the Flagstaff bookseller for “that short story collection that drags Flagstaff really hard” (he had no idea but we got there eventually). These stories are sometimes gritty, it’s true, sometimes the picked scab, sometimes the bile in the back of your throat. But sometimes the breath of pine-fresh air, which you don’t take for granted.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 to 4 stars. From the book jacket synopsis: "Set in and around Flagstaff, the stories in Sinking Bell depict violent collisions of love, cultures, and racism." That's a pretty good one sentence description of this short story collection by Bojan Louis. Several of the stories are worthy of 5 stars and the writing overall is very good. The quality of some other stories is not as good, hence my rating. Glad I read it.

[Aoife Early · Rating 3 out of 5]

More 3.5.

As with all short story collections, some of these were hits and some were not misses but just fell flat in comparison to some of their peers.

Top three would be Make No Sound to Wake, Volcano and A New Place to Hide.

Native American writers are something I have to deliberately seek out and find because Ireland doesn’t have much of a market for this type of writing. But I loved my time with this book.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection wasn't really my thing. The writing was compelling but the characters were unlikeable and often a little one note, and there was a depressing atmosphere of gritty realism that got exhausting after several stories with the same hopeless cycle of violence and poverty. I did get drawn into each story and I was certainly never bored but the bleakness ground me down and I'm glad the collection was short.

[Annalisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a little hard to review short story collections because I definitely like some a lot more than others. Overall the whole book is well written, but some stories fascinated me and others just weren't my thing. They're all good though and the writing style is almost poetic. Very nicely done. I can appreciate them all in some way.