Sherman Alexie
Author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
About the Author
Sherman J. Alexie Jr. was born on October 7, 1966. His mother was Spokane Indian and his father was Coeur d'Alene Indian. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He decided to attend high school off the reservation where he knew he would get a better education. He show more was the only Indian at the school, and excelled academically as well as in sports. After high school, he attended Gonzaga University for two years before transferring to Washington State University, where he graduated with a degree in American studies. He received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship in 1991 and the National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship in 1992. His collections of poetry included The Business of Fancydancing, First Indian on the Moon, The Summer of Black Widows, One Stick Song, and Face. His first collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, received a PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Book of Fiction and a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award. His other short story collections included The Toughest Indian in the World, Ten Little Indians, and War Dances. His first novel, Reservation Blues, received the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award and the Murray Morgan Prize. His other novels included Indian Killer, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Flight. He won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction in 2018 for You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir. Alexie and Jim Boyd, a Colville Indian, collaborated on the album Reservation Blues, which contains the songs from the book of the same name. In 1997, Alexie collaborated with Chris Eyre, a Cheyenne/Arapaho Indian, on a film project inspired by Alexie's work, This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, from the short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Smoke Signals debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1998, winning two awards: the Audience Award and the Filmmakers Trophy. In 1999 the film received a Christopher Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo © Susan Sheridan
Works by Sherman Alexie
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven [20th anniversary edition] (1993) 2,582 copies, 64 reviews
The toughest indian in the world 12 copies
Ghost Dance [Short Story] 4 copies
Salmon boy 3 copies
Distances [short story] 3 copies
Indian Education 2 copies
Sherman Alexie class 1 copy
20+1 short stories: Une anthologie des meilleures nouvelles de Terres d'Amériques (A.M. TER.AMER.) (French Edition) (2016) 1 copy
“Captivity” 1 copy
Three Poems 1 copy
Superman and Me 1 copy
Clean, Cleaner, Cleanest 1 copy
Fire with Fire 1 copy
Happy Trails 1 copy
Associated Works
The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,161 copies, 3 reviews
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales (2011) — Contributor — 892 copies, 48 reviews
The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970 (1999) — Contributor — 536 copies, 4 reviews
When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (2020) — Contributor — 292 copies, 2 reviews
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection (1994) — Contributor — 259 copies, 2 reviews
Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction (2012) — Contributor — 181 copies, 3 reviews
Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process (2017) — Contributor — 147 copies, 4 reviews
The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction (2008) — Contributor — 130 copies, 1 review
Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films (2005) — Contributor — 127 copies, 1 review
Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction About Learning to Be American (1999) — Contributor — 112 copies
The Creativity Project: An Awesometastic Story Collection (2018) — Contributor — 106 copies, 2 reviews
These United States: Original Essays by Leading American Writers on Their State within the Union by John Leonard (1995) — Contributor — 93 copies, 1 review
The Best American Poetry 2013 (The Best American Poetry series) (2013) — Contributor — 85 copies, 3 reviews
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Concise Edition (2003) — Contributor — 69 copies, 1 review
Song of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1974-1994 (1996) — Contributor — 64 copies, 2 reviews
Song for the Horse Nation: Horses in Native American Cultures (2006) — Contributor, some editions — 60 copies
Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature (2000) — Contributor — 51 copies, 1 review
Here First: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers (Modern Library Paperbacks) (2000) — Contributor — 34 copies, 1 review
Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from the First North American Native Writers' Festival (Sun Tracks) (1994) — Contributor — 22 copies
Hebbes 4 — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Alexie, Sherman
- Legal name
- Alexie, Sherman Joseph, Jr.
- Birthdate
- 1966-10-07
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Spokane, Washington, USA
- Places of residence
- Spokane Indian Reservation, Wellpinit, Washington, USA
Seattle, Washington, USA - Education
- Gonzaga University
Washington State University - Occupations
- writer
lecturer
songwriter
stage performer
poet
screenwriter - Relationships
- Tomhave, Diane (wife)
- Awards and honors
- American Academy of Arts and Letters (2015)
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1992)
World Heavyweight Poetry Bout Champion (1998-2001)
Washington State University Distinguished Alumni Award (1994)
Granta's Best Of Young American Novelists (1996)
The Stranger Genius Award (2008) (show all 14)
Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award (2007)
Lifetime Achievement Award, Native Writers Circle of The Americas (2010)
American Book Award (1996)
National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2007)
Odyssey Award (2008)
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2010)
John Dos Passos Prize (2013)
Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship (1991)
Members
Discussions
November 2017: Sherman Alexie in Monthly Author Reads (October 2021)
(M101'12) The Business of Fancydancing, Sherman Alexie in World Reading Circle (January 2013)
Reviews
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian… by Sherman Alexie
This book is an excellent story about teen life, family, and Indian heritage. It’s an honest depiction of childhood angst in many ways. The story balances itself by being funny and harsh at times. It’s not a completely uplifting tale, yet it’s still one that brings many heartfelt moments. The writing is easygoing. It's a must-read for all.
Age: 1st-3rd grade
Summary: This book explores the story of Thunder Boy Jr. as he navigates his name and what that means for his identity. The story also explores the dynamic of him and his father, as well as his culture, and how that all ties into the meaning of his name and how his identity forms.
Use in the classroom: This book would be a good book for students to read as an entertaining story about the meaning of names and how culture and family have an impact on that.
Summary: This book explores the story of Thunder Boy Jr. as he navigates his name and what that means for his identity. The story also explores the dynamic of him and his father, as well as his culture, and how that all ties into the meaning of his name and how his identity forms.
Use in the classroom: This book would be a good book for students to read as an entertaining story about the meaning of names and how culture and family have an impact on that.
Sherman Alexie’s debut novel is such a blast. Robert Johnson (the legendary blues singer) shows up at the Spokane Indian Reservation and the story takes off from there. This book tackles some large social issues but the humour and magical realism make this book feel so enjoyable and unique.
The thing about prejudice is that sometimes, you miss out. Literary fiction and I don’t get along at all, but at some point, the universe kicked The Absolutely True Diary my way and ten years later, here it was, perfect for an afternoon with a nasty cold; distracting and cathartic. Honestly, the edition with the forward from Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) said it best: “When a person reads this book, they will laugh in the following ways:
lightly
excitedly
mournfully
raucously
knowingly
loudly
softly
tearfully
surprisingly
lovingly
angrily
admiringly."
A mostly true description, just like the book. Diary uses the format of journal and sketchbook of Junior, private name Arnold Spirt. He shares with the reader his matter-of-fact observations about growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, introducing the reader to many of the unique challenges people living there face. As Zusak notes, the tone is hilarious, sometimes bitingly so.
“You can’t teach at our school if you don’t live in the compound. It was like some kind of prison-work farm for our liberal, white, vegetarian do-gooders and conservative, white missionary saviors.”
His own life takes a dramatic turn as he enters high school and decides to leave the rez to go twenty-two miles away to an all-white school.
“What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?”
It is unapologetically not sensitive in language, which, to be honest, does more to lend the realism of junior high than most books. Alexie and I were likely contemporaries; while we didn’t have quite as many fights at my schools, I recognize the physicality of his description. Sadly, an interplay where Junior is called ‘fag’ is also very familiar. Alexie does an excellent job, however, of layering this homophobia into a couple of complicated and deep relationships with male friends.
“I had the sudden urge to hug Gordy, and he had the sudden urge to prevent me from hugging him. ‘Don’t get sentimental,’ he said. Yep, even the weird boys are afraid of their emotions.’
There is also a lot of loss and grief intermixed with the humor. It is one of the many ways Alexie helps educate the reader, indirectly acknowledging the health inequities Native Americans on the reservations face. As Junior notes,
“I’m fourteen years old and have been to forty-two funerals.”
The language, I think, is very fourteen year-old appropriate. The observations are devastatingly true, but I am not completely confident of them coming from a young person’s brain, no matter how genius. But I’m okay with that.
What the reader may or may not be okay with is Alexie’s history as using power inappropriately over women who were seeking professional connections or assistance. Personally, I don’t feel it is so egregious as to distract from the writing. Though he has stated he has issued appropriate apologies, the most public of the cases comes from an accuser who has her own complicated relationship with publicity and identity; in short, it’s complicated.
“So I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation. I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.”… (more)
lightly
excitedly
mournfully
raucously
knowingly
loudly
softly
tearfully
surprisingly
lovingly
angrily
admiringly."
A mostly true description, just like the book. Diary uses the format of journal and sketchbook of Junior, private name Arnold Spirt. He shares with the reader his matter-of-fact observations about growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, introducing the reader to many of the unique challenges people living there face. As Zusak notes, the tone is hilarious, sometimes bitingly so.
“You can’t teach at our school if you don’t live in the compound. It was like some kind of prison-work farm for our liberal, white, vegetarian do-gooders and conservative, white missionary saviors.”
His own life takes a dramatic turn as he enters high school and decides to leave the rez to go twenty-two miles away to an all-white school.
“What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?”
It is unapologetically not sensitive in language, which, to be honest, does more to lend the realism of junior high than most books. Alexie and I were likely contemporaries; while we didn’t have quite as many fights at my schools, I recognize the physicality of his description. Sadly, an interplay where Junior is called ‘fag’ is also very familiar. Alexie does an excellent job, however, of layering this homophobia into a couple of complicated and deep relationships with male friends.
“I had the sudden urge to hug Gordy, and he had the sudden urge to prevent me from hugging him. ‘Don’t get sentimental,’ he said. Yep, even the weird boys are afraid of their emotions.’
There is also a lot of loss and grief intermixed with the humor. It is one of the many ways Alexie helps educate the reader, indirectly acknowledging the health inequities Native Americans on the reservations face. As Junior notes,
“I’m fourteen years old and have been to forty-two funerals.”
The language, I think, is very fourteen year-old appropriate. The observations are devastatingly true, but I am not completely confident of them coming from a young person’s brain, no matter how genius. But I’m okay with that.
What the reader may or may not be okay with is Alexie’s history as using power inappropriately over women who were seeking professional connections or assistance. Personally, I don’t feel it is so egregious as to distract from the writing. Though he has stated he has issued appropriate apologies, the most public of the cases comes from an accuser who has her own complicated relationship with publicity and identity; in short, it’s complicated.
“So I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation. I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.”… (more)
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 61
- Also by
- 59
- Members
- 28,837
- Popularity
- #695
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 1,336
- ISBNs
- 287
- Languages
- 14
- Favorited
- 149
