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
children flower writing
I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited. If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning. But when you draw a picture everybody can understand it. If I draw a cartoon of a flower, then every man, woman, and child in the world can look at it and say, "That's a flower.
children fall flames
...there are some children who aren't really children at all, they're just pillars of flame that burn everything they touch. And there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that fall apart when you touch them..." ~ Thomas Builds-the-Fire (played by Evan Adams) in Alexie's "Smoke Signals
children parent ive-learned
I've learned that the worst thing a parent can do is ignore their children
children purpose rebel
My only purpose is to teach children to rebel against authority figures.
details known prose vivid writer
Ann Beattie is a writer for and of her time. Her prose has become known for its vivid particularity, the details of the way we live.
almost famous parody takes white
When I first read his work, I almost thought it was some kind of parody by a famous white writer, because he takes so many things from me and other writers.
grew indians native pop
You'd never know it from reading the rest of the Native writers, but Indians actually grew up with American pop culture.
But the real interesting stuff is in the cellar and the attic.
eden garden people
A lot of people have no idea that right now Y.A. (young adult). is the Garden of Eden of literature.
people
I don't think there's a whole lot of class literature at all. I think most of that has become racially based, and people don't think of it as being class literature.
father home sober-up
My father was always depressed. When he was home and sober, he was mostly in his room.
running love-you men
If you really want a woman to love you, then you have to dance. And if you don’t want to dance, then you’re going to have to work extra hard to make a woman love you forever, and you will always run the risk that she will leave you at any second for a man who knows how to tango.
hands roots hair
she braided my sister's hair with hands that smelled deep roots buried in the earth she told me the old stories how time never mattered when she died they gave me her clock
art kids drawing
The percentage of Indian kids doing some sort of artistic work is much higher than in the general population - painting, drawing, dancing, singing. The creation of art is still an everyday part of Indian culture, unlike the dominant culture, where art is sort of peripheral.