Critic: Sherman Alexie not above mocking self

MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2003

"Last year, while exalting Larry McMurtry as the most popular writer of the American West, the Los Angeles Times relegated Sherman Alexie--without specifically naming him--to a group of praiseworthy Western writers who lack mass appeal largely because they explore only microcosmic corners of this vast region.

True, no contemporary author has succeeded in popular Western fiction like McMurtry, the old stud horse in the sparse herd of the region's literary writers. But Alexie is the mustang: wild, irreverent, defiant, bold, unpredictable, sleek, distant, erotic, swift and hard to corral--everything McMurtry never was, even in his prime.

Not that Alexie cares. He's a provocateur who never left a pot unstirred. He's a trickster not above mocking himself. He's a proud Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian who is just as likely to skewer Indians as totem-loving liberals and Yale-educated conservatives (yeah, him). And he's a best-selling author who knows exactly how far to push the sensibilities of his gentler readers."

Get the Story:
Sherman Alexie stirs his provocative pot anew (The Chicago Sun-Times 6/22)

Relevant Links:
Sherman Alexie - http://www.fallsapart.com