Alexie uses few words to describe with poignancy the plight of the contemporary Indian (and I use that descriptor because he does even though it is now no longer politically correct terminology).  His stories are rife with broken people: alcoholism, violence, diseases, and mental health issues infiltrate the reservation.  No HUD house is immune to the inherent ills of poverty.  READ MORE

It’s a little harder to categorize Native American author, Sherman Alexie - poet, novelist, teller of short stories. His 2008 murder mystery, Indian Killer, is unflinchingly brutal. A year later he produced The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, a young adult book that is both cruel and touching. [Alexie himself reads the Overdrive audio in a captivating sing-song accent that brings the book to a whole new level.] These two books are vastly different . . . and yet, the writer’s voice is consistent - honest, poetic, wry, resolute, humorous – all the more effective because difficult truths are delivered in a conversational manner that frequently masks raw pain or transcendent beauty.  READ MORE