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About the Author

Nasdijj was born on the Navajo Reservation in 1950. His family were migrant workers, traveling between farms & ranches around the country. He has lived among the Tewa, the Chippewa, the Navajo, & the Mescalero Apache People. Nasdijj has been writing seriously for more than two decades, making ends show more meet by reporting for small-town papers & teaching; at one point his determination to keep writing led to homelessness, & for a time he lived in a public campground. His first appearance in a major publication did not come until June of 1999, when "Esquire" ran the signature piece for his book, "The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams." Nasdijj's dog's name is Navajo, & he calls his pickup Old Big Wanda. "Nasdijj" is Athabaskan for "to become again." He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the name: Tim Barrus

Disambiguation Notice:

"Nasdijj (occasionally Yinishye Nasdijj) is the name taken by the author of three books published between 2000 and 2004. In 2006, investigative reporting revealed that "Nasdijj" was actually a pseudonym for writer Timothy Patrick Barrus." source: Wikipedia, Nasdijj, 2009 Feb. 12

Image credit: rrllmm392

Works by Nasdijj

Associated Works

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003 (2003) — Contributor — 746 copies
Men on Men 2: Best New Gay Fiction (1988) — Contributor — 203 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Barrus, Timothy Patrick
Other names
Barrus, Tim
Nasdijj
Nasdijj, Yinishye
Birthdate
1950
Gender
male
Disambiguation notice
"Nasdijj (occasionally Yinishye Nasdijj) is the name taken by the author of three books published between 2000 and 2004. In 2006, investigative reporting revealed that "Nasdijj" was actually a pseudonym for writer Timothy Patrick Barrus." source: Wikipedia, Nasdijj, 2009 Feb. 12

Members

Reviews

I loved this book, but later found out that it was a bunch of lies. It was published as memoir/non-fiction. Learning that the author made it all up really took all the joy out of it for me. It was a great story, but that is all that it was--a made-up story, passed off as true. Very disappointing.
 
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MickeyMole | 1 other review | Oct 2, 2023 |
For just two bucks at a library sale, this book was a damn good deal. Despite the rather unwieldy title of THE BLOOD RUNS LIKE A RIVER THROUGH MY DREAMS (2000), the prose between the covers reads like music, like poetry. I had never heard of this author, Nasdijj, who claims to be a half-breed, or a 'mongrel,' son of a white cowboy father and a Navajo mother, who grew up all over the country, as his parents worked as migrant workers, following the harvests around the country. He tells us he was born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and was beaten, neglected and abused by his parents, both alcoholics.

His story is presented as a non-chronological collection of essays, beginning with the moving story of his own son, an adopted FAS baby who succumbed to a fatal seizure at six. He moves on to stories of his own troubled childhood and adolescence, as well as his adult wanderings, a failed marriage, various short-lived jobs and spells of homelessness, leavened with tales of the various characters who pass in and our of his life. There are stories of Sings, Dances and Pow wows attended with his mother's people, often featuring images and visions of wild, runaway horses. In general, the writing is ethereal and beautiful, which pulled me along, savoring its music. But I was also puzzled by it, given that the author admits to struggling with both reading and writing his whole life, due to his background of FAS. And he also tells us he had always wanted to be a writer, and that many of his jobs had been with small newspapers, and he occasionally sold some pieces for publication.

So here's the kicker. After finishing this beautiful little book, just for grins I googled Nasdijj. Turns out he's a fraud. Not a Navajo. Not even half. His name is Tim Burrus and he grew up in Lansing, Michigan, with normal middle-class parents, and attended public schools there. So this 'memoir' is mostly fiction. But he got away with his Nasdijj gig for several years, winning numerous awards and accolades and writing two sequels to this book before he was found out and exposed. Remember that Frey guy whose 'memoir' fooled even Oprah? Yeah. Like that. Theres more to Burrus's story, but it's nor relevant, at least to me. Because I still think this is a beautiful book. So he made stuff up. So he lied. This guy can WRITE! My five-star rating stands. Great story.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER
… (more)
 
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TimBazzett | 1 other review | Oct 24, 2020 |
This book is really intense and edgy. It's also amazing and an important story.
 
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RaincloudPress | 1 other review | Jul 15, 2014 |

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Statistics

Works
9
Also by
2
Members
280
Popularity
#83,034
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
4
ISBNs
10

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