Ten Little Indians [Paperback]

I thought the stories in this collection were all worth reading, although some were better than others. Other reviewers have said Alexie is getting redundant, well, I don't know about that. I enjoyed his book, Indian Killer, but I haven't read all his other short stories. I loved his perspective on love, success, terrorism, and the women's movement, and found that it was not so different from my own, a woman of similar age who grew up in an Italian-Irish-American household where the only books in the house were mine, and the people were, in my opinion, way too accepting of their "station in life," whatever the hell that is. So I felt like I was reading a book written by a Native American cousin of mine--when some white folks were here killing his ancestors, others were back in Europe starving mine, regardless of being the same color. Now, we all have to deal with the same issues, fear of terrorism, adultery, losing a child, failing our dreams, making it in the dominant culture, being ourselves. Anyway, I recommend this book. It's not perfect, but it shines.

"but it's way tough on the rez." From The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above.

The thing about Sherman Alexie is that he examines life from the inside out. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that he examines life from the reservation out. He has a way of pointing out these specific characteristics and challenges that one faces growing up on the reservation and beyond. But when you pay close attention to what he's saying (in such beautiful language), you find yourself relating to an emotional landscape that is universal in all of humanity no matter what race, religion, nationality blah blah blah. One is ultimately left with the impression of a genuine and credible storyteller who has experienced personal conflict, triumph, tragedy and joy within the boundaries of the reservation, then again in the vastness of life outside of the reservation and finally within the borderless limits of his own mind on a much higher and more profound level.

Don't expect any glamorized depictions of Native Americans or any other kind of American for that matter. He gives you the good with the bad in painfully honest observations and language. For example, in The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above (my favorite story in the book), Estelle, a Spokane Indian and the narrator's mother (and a feminist, militant vegan), raises her son in a poor white neighborhood in Seattle, sends him to white schools (plus, in several humorous passages gives him some embarrassing and especially traumatic advice on women and sex) and gets herself a college education (come hell or high water). On page 139, the narrator says the following:

My mother went to college on scholarships funded by white people; she was a teaching assistant to a white professor; she borrowed money from white people who didn't have much money to lend; our white landlord let us pay half rent for a whole year and never asked for the rest; my favorite baby-sitter was a white woman with red hair.
"White people!" My mother should have sung their praises; I should sing their praises! But we didn't sing for them. Indians are not supposed to sing for white people. Does the antelope sing honor songs for the lion?

And there you have it. One of the great American writers of our times.

This is the best writing I've seen from Sherman Alexie since The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven. I thought Indian Killer was a bit of a disappointment, really... the politics were too blatant and heavy-handed, and the story lacked the subtlety and delicate touch of his shorter work. But he's in top form again here.

I was lucky enough to see him read the last story in person. It was an unforgettable experience. As a friend who was there with me said, "He makes you burst out laughing one moment, then breaks your heart the next."