Karen Castellucci Cox, “Magic and Memory in the Contemporary Short Story
Cycle: Gloria Naylor and Louise Erdrich,” College English, 60 (February
1998): 150–172.
Discusses Erdrich’s use of the short-story cycle for Love Medicine and notes the
way matters of form heighten the sense of community over individuality. Also
contains useful insights into the roles of women.
Suzanne Ferguson, Studies in Short Fiction, 33 (Fall 1996): 541–555.
Compares the original short-story versions to their revisions as chapters in the
novel for how they “mean” in each context.
Claudia Gutwirth, “‘Stop Making Sense’: Trickster Variations in the Fiction of
Louise Erdrich,” in Trickster Lives: Culture and Myth in American Fiction,
edited by Jeanne Campbell Reesman (Athens: University of Georgia Press,
2001), pp. 148–167.
Focuses on Lipsha and the humor of the trickster-like verbal play.
P. Jane Hafen, Reading Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine, Boise State University
Western Writers Series, 158 (Boise, Idaho: Boise State University, 2003).
Works through the novel section by section, offering readings and explanations;
particularly strong in making connections to Ojibwe backgrounds.
Karen Jane McKinney, “False Miracles and Failed Vision in Louise Erdrich’s Love
Medicine,” Critique, 40 (Winter 1999): 152–161.
Argues against a communal vision and highlights the destructiveness of Catholi-
cism for the Chippewa.
Louis Owens, “Erdrich and Dorris’s Mixedbloods and Multiple Narratives,” in
his Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel (Norman: Uni-
versity of Oklahoma Press, 1992), pp. 192–224.
Traces the theme of search for self and authenticity in Erdrich’s first three novels.
Michelle Pacht, “Creating Community: Motherhood and the Search for Identity
in Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine,” Narratives of Community: Women’s Short
Story Sequences, edited by Roxanne Harde (Newcastle upon Tyne, England:
Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007), pp. 152–172.
Discusses the central role of June, Marie, and Lulu in the novel, also arguing that
Erdrich’s chosen form leads to a narrative of community.
Patricia Riley, “There Is No Limit to this Dust: The Refusal of Sacrifice in Louise
Erdrich’s Love Medicine,” SAIL: Studies in American Indian Literatures, 12
(Summer 2000): 13–23.
Argues that historically most texts featuring mixed bloods have insisted on
sacrificing them but that Erdrich takes a markedly different path, insisting on a
“synergistic mythic resistance.” Riley provides a useful reading of the interaction
between Marie Lazarre and Sister Leopolda in “Sister Marie.”
James Ruppert, “Celebrating Culture: Love Medicine,” in his Mediation in Con-
temporary Native American Fiction (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1995), pp. 131–150.