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MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2003

"Sherman Alexie has just compiled a bookful of keepers, "Ten Little Indians," most if not all of them about Spokane Indians around Washington. These are predominantly citified characters, off the reservation for anywhere from a few years to a couple of generations. Their stories consequently belong to the rich tradition of assimilation fiction, expertly practiced down the years by writers as diverse as Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie and Amy Tan. The main difference is, when the ones doing the assimilating are American Indians, the land haunting them isn't overseas. It's underfoot. As with native Californians, the past is what they have instead of "the old country.""

Get the Story:
Way off the reservation: The Indians in Alexie's fiction are out for redemption (The San Francisco Chronicle 6/29)

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

Related Stories:
Critic: Sherman Alexie not above self-mocking (6/23)
Review: Nothing is sacred to Sherman Alexie (6/18)
Review: 'Ten Little Indians' by Sherman Alexie (6/16)
Alexie working on biography of Jimi Hendrix (6/13)
Review: Sherman Alexie's 'Ten Little Indians' (05/27)
Review: Sherman Alexie on being brown after 9-11 (05/06)
Sherman Alexie Story: What You Pawn I Will Redeem (04/21)
Sherman Alexie: A Native perspective on war (03/04)
Sherman Alexie is the stupidest war speaker (03/04)