Sherman Alexie, Native American author and poet, unlikely survivor of being born with encephalitis in crushing poverty on an Indian res, and one of the funniest speakers I’ve ever heard. We saw him last night in a packed house and the guy had the audience laughing their asses off for the entire hour. He’s not a comedian, he’s a story-teller. His books have sold millions and been highly reviewed. But the guy is just naturally funny and has worked on his presentation until it’s a highly polished gem. Self-deprecating, ironic and pointed to the extent of painful at times, he relates his life like the master story teller he is.
If you get the chance to see him, by all means do it.
Very cool!
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a really terrific novel of his. I loved it.
The only other thing I’ve read by him was a mystery called “Indian Killer” which I really didn’t like at all.
I’ve read a few of his things, and heard him speak on NPR - very thoughtful, entertaining guy.
I would love to see him at a reading. I’ve been a fan of his since I read The Business of Fancydancing, which must have been in the early '90s. He’s a great poet and a great short-story writer.
He also made a film called “Smoke Signals” (based on “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”) that won honors at the Sundance Film Festival.
I see it’s available on Netflix Streaming, I’ll check it out.