Sherman Alexie

Author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

63+ Works 27,675 Members 1,324 Reviews 151 Favorited

About the Author

Sherman J. Alexie Jr. was born on October 7, 1966. His mother was Spokane Indian and his father was Coeur d'Alene Indian. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He decided to attend high school off the reservation where he knew he would get a better education. He show more was the only Indian at the school, and excelled academically as well as in sports. After high school, he attended Gonzaga University for two years before transferring to Washington State University, where he graduated with a degree in American studies. He received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship in 1991 and the National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship in 1992. His collections of poetry included The Business of Fancydancing, First Indian on the Moon, The Summer of Black Widows, One Stick Song, and Face. His first collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, received a PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Book of Fiction and a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award. His other short story collections included The Toughest Indian in the World, Ten Little Indians, and War Dances. His first novel, Reservation Blues, received the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award and the Murray Morgan Prize. His other novels included Indian Killer, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Flight. He won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction in 2018 for You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir. Alexie and Jim Boyd, a Colville Indian, collaborated on the album Reservation Blues, which contains the songs from the book of the same name. In 1997, Alexie collaborated with Chris Eyre, a Cheyenne/Arapaho Indian, on a film project inspired by Alexie's work, This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, from the short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Smoke Signals debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1998, winning two awards: the Audience Award and the Filmmakers Trophy. In 1999 the film received a Christopher Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Sherman Alexi, Alexie Sherman, Sherman Alexie, Sherman Alexie, editor

Image credit: Photo © Susan Sheridan

Works by Sherman Alexie

Popular Recent

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007) 11,288 copies

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven [20th anniversary edition] (1993) 2,489 copies

Reservation Blues (1995) — Lyrics, Coyote Springs songs — 2,050 copies

Flight (2007) 1,645 copies

Indian Killer (1996) 1,386 copies

The Toughest Indian in the World (2000) 1,301 copies

Ten Little Indians (2003) 1,295 copies

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993) 1,280 copies

War Dances (2009) 861 copies

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir (2017) 816 copies

Thunder Boy Jr. (2016) 749 copies

Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories (2012) 540 copies

The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems (1992) 368 copies

Native American Literature Course Pack (1994) 329 copies

First Indian on the Moon (1993) 179 copies

One Stick Song (2000) 164 copies

The Summer of Black Widows (1996) 162 copies

Smoke Signals: A Screenplay (1998) 157 copies

Face (2009) 113 copies

Old Shirts & New Skins (1993) 113 copies

The Best American Poetry 2015 (2015) — Editor — 91 copies

Smoke Signals [1998 film] (1993) — Author — 84 copies

What I've Stolen, What I've Earned (2014) 41 copies

Will Work For Peace: New Political Poems (1605) 27 copies

Business of Fancydancing: The Screenplay (2003) 16 copies

The man who loves salmon (1998) 15 copies

Dangerous Astronomy (2005) 14 copies

The Toughest Indian in the World (Short Story), What You Pawn I Will Redeem (Short Story) 12 copies

Water flowing home : poems (1995) 9 copies

Phoenix, Arizona : Et autres nouvelles (1999) 8 copies

The Business of Fancydancing {video} (2002) 8 copies

What You Pawn I Will Redeem [short story] 7 copies

Selected Shorts: For Better and for Worse (2008) 6 copies

McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales {abridged} (2011) 4 copies

Ghost Dance [Short Story] 4 copies

La Pelea Celestial Del Llanero Solitario Y Toro (1994) 3 copies

Salmon Boy 3 copies

Distances [short story] 3 copies

Home Field: Writers Remember Baseball (2010) 3 copies

Ploughshares Winter 2000-01 : Stories and Poems (2000) 3 copies

This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona 3 copies

Prairie Schooner (Winter 2012) (2013) 2 copies

The Ballad of Paul Nonetheless (2010) 2 copies

Indian Education 2 copies

The Magic and Tragic Year of My Broken Thumb 2 copies

Sherman Alexie class 1 copy

Salt (short story) 1 copy

20+1 short stories: Une anthologie des meilleures nouvelles de Terres d'Amériques (A.M. TER.AMER.) (French Edition) (2016) 1 copy

By Sherman Alexie - The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems 1 copy

“Captivity” 1 copy

Breaking and Entering (short story) 1 copy

Three Poems 1 copy

Red Blues (Collections Litterature) (French Edition) (2008) 1 copy

Superman and Me 1 copy

Matador Indio (1998) 1 copy

Clean, Cleaner, Cleanest 1 copy

The Toughest Indian in the World (in The New Granta Book of the American Short Story - FORD) 1 copy

Fire with Fire 1 copy

Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star−Spangled Banner' at… 1 copy

Over ruggen van zalmen (2015) 1 copy

What Sacagawea Means to Me (in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003 - EGGERS) 1 copy

Junior Polatkin's Wild West Show 1 copy

Happy trails 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales (2002) — Contributor — 1,451 copies

The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,115 copies

The Living Dead (2008) — Contributor — 900 copies

Heart Berries: A Memoir (2018) — Introduction, some editions — 846 copies

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales (2011) — Contributor — 842 copies

Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry (2003) — Contributor — 759 copies

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003 (2003) — Contributor — 743 copies

The Best American Short Stories 2004 (2004) — Contributor — 548 copies

The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970 (1999) — Contributor — 495 copies

The Portable Sixties Reader (2002) — Contributor — 319 copies

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010 (2010) — Contributor — 298 copies

100 Years of The Best American Short Stories (2015) — Contributor — 267 copies

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection (1994) — Contributor — 253 copies

When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (2020) — Contributor — 238 copies

The Best American Short Stories 1994 (1994) — Contributor — 234 copies

Granta 54: Best of Young American Novelists (1996) — Contributor — 233 copies

The New Granta Book of the American Short Story (2007) — Contributor — 205 copies

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012 (2012) — Contributor — 196 copies

The Best American Poetry 1996 (1996) — Contributor — 169 copies

Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction (2012) — Contributor — 167 copies

The Best American Poetry 1997 (1997) — Contributor — 166 copies

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2013 (2013) — Contributor — 151 copies

Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process (2017) — Contributor — 132 copies

The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction (2008) — Contributor — 122 copies

Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films (2005) — Contributor — 120 copies

Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction About Learning to Be American (1999) — Contributor — 101 copies

The Creativity Project: An Awesometastic Story Collection (2018) — Contributor — 94 copies

These United States: Original Essays by Leading American Writers on Their State within the Union by John Leonard (1995) — Contributor — 88 copies

The Best American Poetry 2011 (2011) — Contributor — 84 copies

Moccasin Thunder: American Indian Stories for Today (2005) — Contributor — 83 copies

The Best American Poetry 2012 (2012) — Contributor — 79 copies

The Best American Poetry 2013 (2013) — Contributor — 78 copies

The Best American Poetry 2014 (2014) — Contributor — 74 copies

Earth Song, Sky Spirit (1993) — Contributor — 66 copies

The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Concise Edition (2003) — Contributor — 66 copies

Eddie and the Cruisers (1980) — Introduction, some editions — 60 copies

Song of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1974-1994 (1996) — Contributor — 59 copies

Song for the Horse Nation: Horses in Native American Cultures (2006) — Contributor, some editions — 56 copies

Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature (2000) — Contributor — 52 copies

McSweeney's Issue 50 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern) (2017) — Contributor — 51 copies

Summer: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (2005) — Contributor — 37 copies

Here First: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers (Modern Library Paperbacks) (1838) — Contributor — 33 copies

Birds in the Hand: Fiction and Poetry about Birds (2004) — Contributor — 32 copies

Without Reservation: Indigenous Erotica (2003) — Contributor — 25 copies

Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from the First North American Native Writers' Festival (Sun Tracks, Vol 29) (1994) — Contributor — 22 copies

A Good Man: Fathers and Sons in Poetry and Prose (1993) — Contributor — 20 copies

Indian Country (2001) — Introduction, some editions — 19 copies

Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing (2000) — Contributor — 18 copies

Selected Shorts: New American Stories (2011) — Contributor — 16 copies

Coming of Age in the 21st Century: Growing Up in America Today (2008) — Contributor — 16 copies

Visit teepee town : native writings after the detours (1999) — Contributor — 11 copies

Durable Breath: Contemporary Native American Poetry (1994) — Contributor — 6 copies

Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor by Writers of Color (2002) — Contributor — 4 copies

Winter in the Blood [2013 film] (2015) — Producer — 2 copies

Hebbes 4 — Contributor — 2 copies

Mitä ukkonen todella sanoi (2001) 1 copy

Tagged

alcoholism (426) American (181) American Indian (238) American literature (276) anthology (1,113) basketball (339) coming of age (388) death (164) essays (181) family (251) fantasy (198) fiction (3,647) friendship (267) high school (283) horror (199) humor (461) identity (197) Indian (177) literature (348) memoir (259) multicultural (160) Native American (1,635) Native American Literature (253) Native Americans (908) non-fiction (305) novel (306) poetry (1,004) poverty (297) racism (257) read (344) realistic fiction (274) reservation (202) short stories (1,988) signed (224) Spokane (206) to-read (1,828) unread (193) YA (616) young adult (701) young adult fiction (161)

Common Knowledge

Legal name: Alexie, Sherman Joseph, Jr.
Birthdate: 1966-10-07
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Spokane, Washington, USA
Places of residence: Spokane Indian Reservation, Wellpinit, Washington, USA
Seattle, Washington, USA
Education: Gonzaga University
Washington State University
Occupations: writer
lecturer
songwriter
stage performer
Relationships: Tomhave, Diane (wife)
Organizations: American Academy of Arts and Letters (2015)
Awards and honors: Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship (1991)
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1992)
World Heavyweight Poetry Bout Champion (1998-2001)
Washington State University Distinguished Alumni Award (1994)
Granta's Best Of Young American Novelists (1996)
The Stranger Genius Award (2008) (show all 12)
Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award (2007)
Lifetime Achievement Award, Native Writers Circle of The Americas (2010)
American Book Award (1996)
National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (2007)
Odyssey Award (2008)
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2010)

Members

Discussions

November 2017: Sherman Alexie in Monthly Author Reads (October 2021)

(M101'12) The Business of Fancydancing, Sherman Alexie in World Reading Circle (January 2013)

Reviews

War Dances by Sherman Alexie

What am amazing collection. I've never read an author so able to walk a tightrope between humor, sadness, and pop culture references in my life. The man is a treasure.

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JuntaKinte1968 | 42 other reviews | Dec 6, 2023 |

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian… by Sherman Alexie

This book is about a Native American young man who is navigating a new school while still trying to keep his identity.

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Amyshubby | 787 other reviews | Dec 6, 2023 |

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie

Wow! I really enjoyed this unusual memoir. Unusual in that half of it was his heartfelt poetry (I liked it!) and t have never heard of him before.
He is a Spokane Indian growing up on the "Rez". He is tortured by his unresolved relationship with his mother (now dead). Another associated issue was his mother and grandmother were apparently the result of a rape. A lot of pain, grief and trauma was revealed in these pages.

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camplakejewel | 47 other reviews | Nov 14, 2023 |

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Still not sure this is a fair rating. I would definitely recommend this book to a middle schooler, but not to another adult - no matter how much they liked YA.

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mmparker | 787 other reviews | Oct 24, 2023 |

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