Christopher Moore's Coyote Blue
A Native American Trickster Tale of Epic Proportions
Christopher Moore crafts another fine adventure story in Coyote Blue. Follow Samson Hunts Alone on his journey with Native American trickster, Coyote. It's epic.
Like Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal and Island of the Sequined Love Nun, Christopher Moore captures the adventurous spirit in us all in his 2nd novel, Coyote Blue. Our hero, Samson Hunts Alone is a Crow Indian who was forced to leave his reservation after a deadly misunderstanding with the law at the age of 15.
He becomes Samuel Hunter a brilliant insurance salesman and the world's biggest skeptic regarding his own Native American roots. On one fateful day, his path crosses with Coyote, the mythical trickster figure of his ancestors and he turns Sam's life upside down.
The Changing World of Samson Hunts Alone, Native American Dropout
As a boy, Samson never believed in the old ways of his people, the Crow. He, however, was blessed (or cursed, depending on the point of view) with a traditional clan uncle, Pokey, who passes on his Coyote medicine to Samson before his first sweat.
As Samson gets older, his skepticism grows for the old ways and comes to a boiling point as he and friends get together on the reservation to party. They're caught by BIA agent Enos, who assaults a girl and gets pushed over the dam into the river by Samson. Samson is forced to leave the reservation at 15 and never return.
Fast forward 20 years. Samson Hunts Alone is now Samuel Hunter, a brilliant insurance salesman with the perfect life. He's got cars, money, women, and anything he desires. Overall, his life is complete until he runs into an Indian in the street wearing buckskins, who just happens to be the human persona of trickster Coyote. Coyote's there to turn Sam's life upside down and bring him back to his roots.
A series of events leads Sam to Calliope, a free-spirited blonde, who saves all bugs in the event that they're Jim Morrison reincarnated. After he meets Calliope (it's important to note here that Coyote arranged it), his client is attacked, a coyote eats all the cats in his townhome complex, he loses his job, and Calliope's ex-boyfriend Lonnie tries to have him killed.
This quickly turns into an epic adventure when Lonnie runs away with Calliope's son, Grubb, and Sam finds himself caring more about one person than he's ever cared about before. With Coyote, Sam goes to Vegas to find Calliope and meets Minty Fresh (M.F. for short), a larger than life black man who works for a casino as a troubleshooter.
M.F. is really the descendent of Anubis, God of the Underworld, who is Coyote's brother. They find Calliope, lose Grubb again, and all drive to Sturgis, South Dakota where they rendezvous with M.F and steal the baby. There, they're chased from Sturgis to the Crow reservation in Montana, and to the Underworld and back.
Sam learns that embracing his roots is the only way his culture will stay alive and the stories of his people passed on.
On a More Serious Note ...
If you're looking for a fun read that takes you to hell and back (literally ... kind of), Coyote Blue is a great book to pick up. It is one of the best by Christopher Moore and takes its rightful place on the shelves of the comedy greats. Even if you're not familiar with Native American Gods like Coyote, by the end of the book you'll feel right at home with him, like you grew up listening to his stories.
Christopher Moore might just have his own golden eyes of a trickster.
Moore, Christopher. Coyote Blue. New York: Harper, 1994
