GRAND AVENUE by Greg Sarris (Penguin:...

GRAND AVENUE by Greg Sarris (Penguin: $10.95; 229 pp.) Subtitled “A Novel in Stories,” “Grand Avenue” traces the interwoven lives of a clan of Pomos in Northern California. Divisions within the clan that have lasted three generations seem destined to fester for three more, as people nurture real and imagined grievances and pass them on to their children and grandchildren. A few wiser members of the tribe attempt to transmit traditional healing songs and basketry techniques to their descendants in Sarris’ bleak, moving portrait of a displaced people.