Author
Sherman Alexie
Birth Date
October 7, 1966
(59 Years)
Associated Country
United States
Sherman Alexie is an American author, poet, and filmmaker best known for writing about contemporary Indigenous life in the United States. Born in 1966 and raised on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State, he draws heavily from his experiences as a Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Native person. His work often explores identity, poverty, racism, trauma, humor, and the tension between reservation and urban life.
Some of his best-known works include The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Indian Killer, and Flight. He also wrote The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which became widely taught in schools for its honest and darkly funny portrayal of adolescence and Indigenous identity.
Alexie’s writing style mixes sharp humor with serious social commentary, which is part of why his books hit so hard. One paragraph you’re laughing, next paragraph existential damage. Literature loves emotional whiplash almost as much as airports do.
Some of his best-known works include The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Indian Killer, and Flight. He also wrote The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which became widely taught in schools for its honest and darkly funny portrayal of adolescence and Indigenous identity.
Alexie’s writing style mixes sharp humor with serious social commentary, which is part of why his books hit so hard. One paragraph you’re laughing, next paragraph existential damage. Literature loves emotional whiplash almost as much as airports do.
Books
Family relationships are never simple. But Sherman Alexie's bond with his mother Lillian was more complex than most. She plunged her family into chaos with a drinking habit, but shed her addiction...
Thunder Boy Jr. 2016
Thunder Boy Jr. wants a normal name...one that's all his own. Dad is known as big Thunder, but little thunder doesn't want to share a name. He wants a name that celebrates something cool he's done...
Sherman Alexie's celebrated first collection, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, established its author as one of America's most important and provocative voices. The basis for the...
Blasphemy 2012
A bold and irreverent observer of life among Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest, the daring, versatile, funny, and outrageous Alexie showcases all his talents in his newest collection,...
War Dances 2009
War Dances is a collection of stories and poems that explore the complexities of identity, family, and cultural belonging. Many of the pieces follow Native American characters navigating life between...
Indian Killer 2008
A national best seller, Indian Killer is arguably Sherman Alexie's most controversial book to date-a gritty, racially charged literary thriller that, over a decade after its first publication, remains...
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that...
Flight 2007
The best-selling author of multiple award-winning books returns with his first novel in ten years, a powerful, fast and timely story of a troubled foster teenager - a boy who is not a "legal" Indian...
Reservation Blues 2005
One day legendary bluesman Robert Johnson appears on the Spokane Indian reservation, in flight from the devil and presumed long dead. When he passes his enchanted instrument to...
Ten Little Indians 2004
Sherman Alexie is one of our most acclaimed and popular writers today. With Ten Little Indians, he offers nine poignant and emotionally resonant new stories about Native Americans who, like all...