Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr., born October 7, 1966) is an American poet, writer, and filmmaker. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American with ancestry from several tribes. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and now lives in Seattle, Washington...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth7 October 1966
CityWelpinet, WA
CountryUnited States of America
community feelings feeling-lost
A lot of native culture has been destroyed. So you already feel lost inside your culture. And then you add up feeling lost and insignificant inside the larger culture. So you end up feeling lost squared. And to never be recognized, to never have any power, you know, other minority communities actually have a lot of economic, cultural power.
book writing thinking
They've been screaming about the death of literacy for years, but I think TV is the Gutenberg [printing] press. I think TV is the only thing that keeps us vaguely in democracy even if it's in the hands of the corporate culture. If you're an artist you write in your time. Moaning about the fact that maybe people read more books a hundred years ago - that's not true. I think the same percentage has always read.
lying writing epic
In a sense, you're always mythologizing your life; it's always an effort to make yourself epic. At least in fiction you can lie and sort of justify your delusion about your "epicness." But when you're writing a memoir, you're trying to make your life epic and it's not - nobody's life is.
war might dubious
I'm not a pacifist by any measure, but I'm also fully aware that the reasons I might go to war could be very dubious.
beautiful character white
Only in rock music and the literary world you see so many ugly white guys with beautiful women. That says a lot about the women, their character. They're attracted to more than surface.
doctors people different
If I were a doctor nobody would be inviting me to talk to reservations. I'd be a different person. Writers can influence more people.
book native-american thinking
I think most Native American literature is unreadable by the vast majority of Native Americans. Generally speaking Indians don't read books. It's not a book culture. That's why I'm trying to make movies. Indians go to movies; Indians own video recorders.
running oil world
It's not oil that runs the world, it's shame.
what-if noses rowdy
What if someone picks on me?" I asked Then I'll pick on them". What if someone picks my nose?" I asked. The I'll pick your nose, too" Rowdy said.
beautiful mother father
He looked into the crowd for approval, saw his mother and father. He waved and they waved back. Smiles and Indian teeth. They were both drunk. Everything familiar and welcome. Everything beautiful.
book taken moments
I suddenly understood that if every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of a life should be taken seriously as well.
positive damage-is-done wife
My wife was the first romantic partner who understood both American and native parts of me - not so much the positive stuff, but the damage.
hate reflection giving
Estranged from the tribe that gives no protection, What happens to the soul that hates its reflection?
writing literature condescension-and
I thought I'd been condescended to as an Indian - that was nothing compared to the condescension for writing young adult literature.