This was excellent! My first Sherman Alexie book! I love it when I am introduced to a different culture and fully immersed in it in so many ways. Alexie's storytelling ensures that the reader understands that Native American culture is vast. He identifies the tribes that he is talking about and makes it clear that different tribes have diverse cultures. Alexie writes about Spokane and Couer d'alene tribes. This was a book of stories which felt to me I was getting a flavor of the culture without resorting to stereotypes (at least from my limited perspective). I was immersed in an otherness different from my own and yet richly textured.

Summary

Assimilation -A really interesting story of an indigenous woman professional living the life of a traditional white woman professional and her longing to keep what she has and to explore her indigenous side. There is an element of "passing" here where she loves her life but is missing/wants to embrace a culture she has left behind. The resentment of having to make a choice or rather the choices made for her by choosing the paths that she chose in life. There is a resistance to assimilation until she perceives her white husband is in mortal danger. A very good start but the amorphous voice came across a little strange. Was the reader inside her head or was some unembodied voice describing the story?"

The Toughest Indian in the World - titular story about hero worship which led to an unexpected encounter. There is a cultural reference to professional fighting similar to boxing or UAF in the Native American culture. Really interesting sexual dynamics mixed w/ indigenous subcultures. I'm finding Alexie to be a fascinating writer.

Class - A story of a wealthy, educated, successful Native American in high society where his successes seem to be the result of his environment fetishizing his "Indian-ness"."

South by Southwest - A weird one that I suspect goes to the search for identity and for love. A white male and an Indian pull a "Thelma and Louise" and stumble across the weirdest cast of characters. Poverty and loneliness are ubiquitous in American culture. I'll just say weird and interesting..."

The Sin Eaters - Speculative fiction in a dystopian America which rounds up Indians to continue the human race. Here Native Americans are the only people who can still procreate so they are rounded up and enslaved. Fascinating and frightening as it had shadows of the Holocaust and of Handmaids tale..."

Indian Country - Writer returns to the reservation to check on his old love who is an out lesbian in love with a white woman whose family is homophobic. This one looks at interracial relationships and cultural masculinity. Alexie is fascinating!

Saint Junior - Poor orphaned (raised by his grandmother) Indian child does good, goes to college, marries an Indian woman, and have a long and prosperous marriage. Boy is resistant to assimilation and is well aware of the disadvantages of being Native American. This was a story of sorts about the ways that we "other" Native Americans and how society always creates obstacles for success for others and how some triumph despite the obstacles. The character here refuses to abandon his culture and still succeeds through a basketball scholarship. In many ways a little cliché or architype of "othering" but not… Which is why Alexie seems to have something innate in his writing. Very appealing

Dear John Wayne - 118-year-old Indian woman tells the story of her encounter with John Wayne during the filming of "The Searchers". Lampooning the John Wayne image and hero-worship of white America. I loved it!

One Good Man - An Indian man ponders his heritage and his life with his dying father. A story of respect for parents and the gifts they gave their children. Poignant!

The book description says these stories are love stories. That is a true assessment, but this is not a book of romance. It's a book that examines different types of love through a cultural lens. Alexie does a great job of world building in terms of atmosphere; putting the reader into the minds of the characters. I think of him as a cultural bridge. His stories bring some cultural enlightenment. Be advised that Alexie has a reputation of sexual harassment/misconduct in the industry. Still, I was able to enjoy his writing which BTW I found to be relatively gender egalitarian. Though most of the main characters were male in his stories; the female characters were not written in ways that diminish women or devolve to gender stereotypes. He also stays away from cultural stereotypes. Bonus: he s to dismantle systemic white supremacy and the many ways the micro aggressions reveal themselves. This was a gem!

4.5 Stars rounded up

Read on kindle5-star aoc aoc-male ...more38 s JamieAuthor 8 books3,244

Wowzers.

I've been saving this one for a while, almost in an "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, BREAK GLASS" kind of way. And now that I'm somewhat homebound with a ruptured achilles I finally indulged in this perfect collection of literary comfort food.

Absolutely loved it.

And once again validated my belief that Sherman Alexie is the best writer of my generation.



23 s Trish437 25

Sherman Alexie really kicks ass, doesn't he?

I always approached the tenth most attractive white woman at any gathering. I didn't have enough looks, charm, intelligence, or money to approach anybody more attractive than that, and I didn't have enough character to approach the less attractive.

My feelings are my feelings, said Salmon Boy, they belong to me, and you don't have to worry about them at all.

"What did you do?"
"I broke my heart."
"I didn't realize that was illegal."
"Well," he said. "In Missoula, it seems to be a misdemeanor."

Roman's entire political philosophy revolved around the basic tenet that a person, any person, had only enough energy at any given time to believe in three things. "Choose your three," Roman was often fond of pontificating. "And stick with them." Roman himself believed in free expression, Grace Atwater, and basketball. Neither a Republican nor a Democrat, Roman had always voted for the candidate who looked he or she could hit a twenty-foot jump shot with three seconds left on the clock and the home team down by one.

He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.13 s Deb Rudnick259 3

I can't believe it's taken me this long to know this Alexie book exists. It's by far one of my favorites. I am amazed by the intensity, brilliance, and emotion of Alexie's writing in these short stories. I think they rank right up there with some of the best I've read, including Etgar Keret, Dubus, and Hemingway. His writing is opening a door and getting knocked sideways by a gale of wind that has rolled all the way from the Spokane reservation, bringing with it the secrets, ghosts, tall tales, and true stories of a people and place that are both something of every human and very specifically Indian. Alexie manages to connect us to his knowledge in a way that is so funny, beautiful, and loving that you can't but want to track him down and give him a massive hug for sharing this with us.7 s Liz32 37

Rarely disappointed by anything I have read from Sherman Alexie. "Dear John Wayne" was not at all what I expected, and I'm glad. "One Good Man" and "South By Southwest" are two other favorites in this collection. Again, I point out that in just one sitting with any of these stories, this reader was totally transported into the lives, travels, heartaches, and realizations that the characters were engaged in. Much of Alexie's work really pulls me in to the stories, even the ones that seem the most improbable. I think because as I've grown older, I now believe scenarios that appear too unfathomable to be true..and so I just go with it. short-stories5 s George802 91

AMBIVALENCE.

“The silence is not about hate or pain or fear. Indians just to believe that white people will vanish, perhaps explode into smoke, if they are ignored enough times.”—The Toughest Indian in the World. (p. 22)

I absolutely love Sherman Alexie’s writing/storytelling—he’s a consummate wordsmith; while absolutely hating some of his stories—too dark and depressing. In his collection of nine short stories entitled, The Toughest Indian in the World even the title story left me less than thrilled for having read it; while the story entitled, The Sin Eaters might be the worst piece of dog feces I’ve ever read.

Even after subtracting for those two stories, though, I did reading this collection enough for at least three (ambiguous) stars.

Recommendation: Not my first choice of Alexie’s books, but worth reading.

“I’m not exactly racist. I white people as a theory; I’m just not crazy about them in practice.” —One Good Man (p. 217).

Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 238 pagessherman-alexie4 s AndreaAuthor 7 books191

One or two I didn't especially , though each and every one of them is a pretty great short story. But I loved the ones I loved, and am rather in awe that one person wrote all of them, and the way they play with sexuality and identity and belonging from many angles. The way that people move between worlds and what that means to them, what it does to them. And of course I love the points of view, and the complexity and the absence of charicature and all the things I really hate in a lot of writing about (rather than by, generally speaking) Indians...

The one story I'm still thinking about involves John Wayne, because I really don't John Wayne, though the Searchers was one of his best films. Probably because he's not pretending to be a good guy in it.5 s Bryce1,284 32

My prior experience with Sherman Alexie was An Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, which was great and absolutely wrecked me. I was saving this book for a time I needed some feelings.

And there are feelings a-plenty to be found in these short stories, especially the last one "One Good Man." A son takes care of his father during his dying days, asking "What's an Indian?" but also silently asking "Who am I?"

But these stories lean more to thoughtfulness than pure sentimentality. Alexie explores what it's to be a modern Indian, what identity can be. What it means to conform to or reject a culture. And how it's often tied to having sex with white people.5 s David1,000 31

Outstanding, just all of Alexie's other work I have (and will continue) to read. I won't add much more as I've written volumes about Alexie's wonderful exposition of what it 'means' to be 'Indian' and the concept of race and how it divides. A fantastic collection of short stories.5 s Sarah258 12

This collection of short stories spans many different genres--realistic fiction, magic realism, sci-fi--all exploring the identity of the American Indian. Some were better than others, but it was one of the most cohesive short story collections I have ever encountered. Alexie uses these perfect little gems to communicate the complicated feelings he has about race and belonging.

I didn't know when I first picked it up that it was a short story collection, and I was a little sad when I figured it out, because I was hoping to spend more time with the characters I had already met. Obviously, I just hadn't read the blurb carefully enough. Oh well. The book was a fortunate find at a used book store by Andrew's college (I bought lots of books that day, and they should last me until the end of the summer!). I picked it up because I enjoyed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a YA version of the themes I rediscovered in this book. (TATDOAPTI also one of the few books that I can pretty much hand to any kid and he or she will it.)

Race and racial relations really captivate me, and I love Alexie's honesty. I wish everyone could talk about race this candidly. I think that being an American Indian gives him a special pass from political correctness, and I am grateful that he has that pass.

The collection ends with its best story, in my opinion. That last story, called "One Good Man," repeats the refrain, "What is an Indian?" with varied answers that reflect the small, poignant action, such as "Is it a son who can stand in a doorway and watch his father sleep?" This last story seems the most autobiographical to me--the heartbreak threaded in the situation, the characters, and most of all the style, suggests a purity of emotion. The story is so delicate that it reminds me of that great last story that closes The Dubliners, the beautiful and perfect "The Dead." So, I guess that I'm saying that Alexie is to American Indians what Joyce is to the Irish.4 s Maggie233 25 Read

"Sexually speaking, Indian women and men are simultaneously promiscuous and modest. That's a contradiction, but it also happens to be the truth."

That true contradiction is a tidy way to sum up the style of this collection. Promiscuous and modest, tough and vulnerable, stoic and maudlin, elegant and clumsy, smart and naive. And by contradiction I'm talking extremes, no pansying moderation but full-on over-the-top ballsy commitment to both poles.

Maybe it's that contradiction which ties the whole collection together. Each story has its own separate tone, rhythm, and vocabulary, which delightfully seems to flow straight out of the respective main character. Still, reading through the stories, you have no doubt that they belong together. Of course, they're all about Indians in the Northwest, but there's a stylistic unity as well.

So much for style. As for content, I was just as hooked. The characters evoke my dream of homesick nostalgia for the West - rugged, isolated dreamers every one.

And funny! Really funny. Sad, not so much, for me at least. Touching, sure, but the sad parts were too exaggerated or maybe it's just that I can't get invested enough within one short story to empathize with the characters and weep a little. But I can definitely laugh.

Also, language. Even in my least favorite story The Sin Eaters (too much of that coldly sad stuff for me) certain phrases leapt out and shook me for no tangible reason. "Memory is a church on fire."

But mostly, looking back, funny. Even too funny, aggressively so, trying a little too hard maybe. Sometimes with writing this I can just see the author at the circular table of his college writing class, his prof standing above him wagging his finger saying "active verbs!" But wit is wit, and Alexie has it.

"Listen, Mary Lynn had once said to Jeremiah, asking somebody why they fall in love is asking somebody why they believe in God.
You start asking questions that, she had added, and you're either going to start a war or you're going to hear folk music."
f-stories l-american read-2012-134 s Patricia289 10

I've been meaning to read one of Alexie's books for a while, especially since I taught the short story "Dear John Wayne" in the class I TA-ed last fall. Unfortunately, I found the short story collection The Toughest Indian in the World to be disappointingly uneven. Part of this may be the result of Alexie's unifying theme here--he says in the introduction to this edition that he set out to write "love stories... of white-collar Indians," which in practice seems to mean relying on heavy-handed use of sex as a symbol for (not) belonging.

The sci-fi alternative future story "The Sin Eaters" was the standout, although I also enjoyed "Saint Junior," "One Good Man," and, of course, "Dear John Wayne." But overall, for me more stories didn't work in this collection than worked. I still have plans to read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, one of Alexie's earlier books of short stories that seems frequently claimed as his masterpiece, which I'm hoping impresses me more. 4 s Daryl657 19

I've read, and enjoyed, most of Alexie's fiction. This collection, however, is probably my least favorite of his books. I was kind of surprised by the amount of graphic sex in the first four stories here. It didn't really fit the Alexie style. When I got to the fifth story, the middle of the book, "The Sin Eaters," I was shocked. Not by sex, this time, but because this story is science fiction. Perhaps an allegory, a metaphor, but it very much left the realm of realism far behind. The last half of the book redeemed it somewhat, though it was still pretty explicit. The final story here, "One Good Man," seemed so familiar to me, I'm pretty sure I read it before somewhere. I hope so, 'cause the alternative explanation would be that Alexie's themes and motifs are so familiar by being repetitive. It's not a bad collection -- far from it -- but it's different enough from what I was expecting that I couldn't quite overcome that expectation. If you haven't read Alexie, start with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven, and then move on to Reservation Blues. Save this one for later.4 s Mark1,452 124

“ a good Indian, he knew when to talk and when to remain silent. a good Indian, he knew there was never a good time to talk.”

“I'm not exactly racist. I white people as a theory; I'm just not crazy about them in practice.”

“Son, if your going to marry a white woman, then marry a rich one, because those white-trash women are just indians with bad haircuts.”

I am going to let these quotes serve as a review, because I think they capture Alexie's voice better than my inarticulate ramblings. This is another strong story collection, from one of America's singular voices. Tales about working class indians and the down-trodden and disillusioned. Funny, thoughtful and heart-breaking. You want a snap-shot of the modern American Indian? Seek this one out, along with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and you will be enlightened.4 s Melissa62

One notable line: A character says he is Indian, and someone responds, "Dot-on-the-head Indian or arrow-in-the-heart Indian?" I appreciate the window this book gave me into Indian culture as Alexie knows it. However, it seemed that almost every story had some mention of sex or sexual disfunction, and after awhile I started wondering if it was necessary. At one point a character says, "I just want to tell the whole story," and I do think this is part of Alexie's writing, to write everything in the American Indian experience, including the ugly parts. I will read more of his books in the future because I respect him as a rare modern voice of an extremely ignored and misunderstood minority. fiction4 s Dan2,159 61

I have to say that I have yet to find a book by Alexie that I didn't . I will admit that the first 3 stories in this short story collection didn't make much sense but had some sense of truths in them. But really the last half of this book contained some thought provoking and touching stories about "what is an Indian?" If you are looking for a diverse read that has meaning then read this.4 s Lynne87

If you are considering not reading or not finishing this book of short stories based on the first several stories, at least read Dear John Wayne and One Good Man. I hate to think how many readers missed them because they gave up before reading the last two stories! 4 s Chana1,603 142

The writing is good.
The culture remains a mystery to me.
The sin eater story was crushing in emotional intensity.
I d the story about the man and his wife probably the best of the stories.
Overall I felt very sad about how things have gone for Native Americans. But I also felt very left out, that their culture is a secret that they keep precious to themselves despite integration and marriages to whites. There is a secret core to the Indians, as it seems right that there should be.3 s Ronald Wise829 27

Sherman Alexie has been attracting attention for his poetry and fiction since the early 1990s, when he was in his late twenties. This collection of short stories took its title from one of the stories therein, which was originally published by The New Yorker. The most obvious thread in common to all these stories is the presence of Native American characters living in a white-dominant society. The central characters, however, vary in the degree of assimulation, and the objects of their efforts are not unique to their ethnicity — their expectations, approaches, and reactions often are.

The events related in these stories seem to be directly or tangentially related to the author's personal experiences: Coming from the Spokane Indian Reservation and making a life for himself in the greater world, which for him thus far is the Northwest, and specifically Seattle; Leaving the rez in search of the success not possible there, while experiencing a perpetual sense of loss as the physical and temporal distance from one's roots grows; Attempting to live with people about whom one's knowledge is based predominantly on movies and television, and dealing with a dominant culture whose expections of you have the same basis.

In each of these stories, however, Alexie presents a close-up of both societies that jars the reader's concept of American society. Perhaps there is a unique Native American way of seeing things, or a specific ethnic sense of humor. Or perhaps it's simply how a conquered people perceives the dominant group as portrayed through its commercial media. The dialogues in these stories — both internal and interpersonal — are well worth reading carefully.

I found something meaningful in each of these stories, but my favorite was "South by Southwest". Especially thought-provoking in this one was the way in which Alexie tries to tease apart the emotional needs of closeness to another human being, and the sexual aspects of that closeness. This was a perfect example of how Alexie can take specific individuals and produce a cross-section of the human experience which spans cultures and time.

I have some Native American history in my own family and have met many people of Native American identity over the years. Reading this book, I kept looking at the author's photograph on the back cover and wondering if I hadn't met this man before. Deciding I probably hadn't, I wish that I had or possibly might. Alexie's fiction seems to contain a great deal of autobiographical material, and I to believe more of it is based on his experiences than is probably so. I look forward to reading more of his fiction.
3 s Alcina67

I was moved to tears by several of the stories. I was totally surprised as I bought this secondhand book after reading his youth novel, The Absolutely True...which my 12 year old LOVED and which I also though was amazing (buy this book for any tween or teen male). I was not prepared for the sexual turns, the adultness of the material. Which was wonderfully done. I loved his humor and turns of phrase, his gender notes and homoeroticism. Also, noticed my feelings of pain as the outsider... the white and that is an essay in itself as I often read the ugly references to blacks, native peoples, women, asians, or how about other than white, in the general fiction out there and wonder at the suffering of readers who hold aspects of the pilloried identities.

I Love the magic/fantasy that shows up in so many of his stories. I really loved South by Southwest.. the gentleman bandit story that is so fantastical. John Wayne, The Sin Eaters... I think he is a masterful storyteller and the nuggets of wisdom, truth, uncovering, suffering, self reflection, calling out and tenderness work for me. I'm a fan.fiction native-american-indiginous3 s Emily White72 3

I read Sherman Alexie’s book of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven some years ago and was expecting The Toughest Indian In the World to be comparable. The Lone Ranger had a simplicity about it that I found intriguing, and I felt it captured some of the struggles of the modern American Indian. I felt the hopelessness and anger of the characters, and saw the stereotypes that they lived with day in and day out. Toughest Indian operated along much of the same lines, as a collection of short stories, each exemplifying something about the modern American Indian experience, but I was turned off by this book somewhat because of some of the more in-your-face graphicness (is that a word?) in this book. The stories came off as being more gritty and less dreamy than those in The Lone Ranger. It was kind of a tough read for me, but I felt it was important for me to read this as Toughest Indian is known as being one of Alexie’s seminal volumes.3 s Katie52 2

It isn’t easy to describe one of Sherman Alexie’s provocative collections of short stories. Reviews often seem limited to a string of adjectives—touching, funny, angry, passionate, bittersweet, tender, mysterious, magical, vivid and haunting. Real. Suffice to say that he is incredibly skilled at directing human emotions into words, which is no small feat considering most of us can’t even put our own thoughts into words, let alone good words. Really good words, as the case may be. Alexie is the master of the small moment: a wife watching her husband play basketball in the snow, a son meticulously purging his diabetic father’s house of hidden candy, a man standing in a phone booth with no one to call. He has an amazing ability to portray the rawness of people—their best and worst qualities all at once: the loving and the fighting, the cheating and the loyalty, the despair and the resilience of hope.3 s AriAuthor 10 books48

Native Americans are the greatest story tellers. Sherman Alexie is the best of the best. This is the best book of short stories that I have ever read.

One of the things I d the most about it was that while each story carries some of the same themes of how being a Native American is ironically kind of being a stranger in a strange land, the characters in each story are all unique and three dimensional. I d that I was able to hear the voice of a reservation Indian telling these stories...complete with the inflections and accent inherent in their speech. I d the marriage of the dream world, and spirit world with the physical world throughout the book. I d the way Alexie describes each character's motivations and inner struggles.

If you have ever met an Indian from any reservation anywhere in the United States, you will SO get this book. 3 s Sherri403 4

More Sherman short stories, I think this is my favorite form of his work. I how he creates characters that sometimes overlap into his other stories, they are old friends, even family. There was one particular story in this book that affected me because I felt my life was in these pages and it scared me a little. Sherman said in a speech in March that people often tell him how his books have affected them and I have to say some details in this story seemed eerily personal and I wanted to know how he knew so much. I still do. 3 s Emily505 37

An excellent, cohesive collection of short stories. Alexie has mastered developing rich, complex characters in such short narratives.

At the end of each short story, I longed to know more about the lives of the protagonists, other than the few glimpses I had been allowed. Very few authors could get an audience so emotionally invested over the span of several pages.3 s Leigh MatthewsAuthor 5 books91

The first couple of (shorter) stories in this collection are absolutely amazing. I'll be revisiting these to help improve my grasp of short-story writing!

Alexie manages to build characters with an inner calm that verges on an intense fury, which sounds oxymoronic, but isn't.

Alexie's oeuvre is definitely moving up my to-read list.3 s Holly Lindquist194 30

I really enjoyed Alexie's earlier work, especially Tonto & the Lone Ranger, but this particular collection was disappointing. The wry humor from other books was overwhelmed by bitter overtones and there was way too much indulgence in tired cliches and stereotypes. It made me dyspeptic. fiction-literature short-stories3 s Lance73 1 follower

I found this collection of short stories about various Native American related themes overall interesting, if only in the idea of juxtaposing related themes on a central topic. Some were definitely better than others. Alexie seems to have a fetish for disenfranchisement by white people and for sexuality, and he seems to have explored every possible outlet of sexuality. Some of the language is terse, and some of the images he draws are downright crude. As a work of entertainment, this book I do not recommend. As a work of art, this story raises certain questions. I find the idea of collecting short stories that treat various themes related to any culture a fascinating idea. Yet the obsession with sexuality cannot be beneficial by any stretch of the imagination. What is to be gained from such a study? And is that really worth the time expended to obtain it? I really have to wonder about that. I was also displeased to see his portrayl of an LDS father as a closed-minded bigot; Alexie may have based that story on a real experience, and indeed I have known many Latter-Day Saints who are rather close-minded, but such a portrayl without any insight into the diversity to be found in the LDS community is a disservice to every community. And how is the Native American community improved by the constant association of their culture with sexuality? No truly faithful portrayal -- a view of things as they are -- will ever improve anyone. That only solidifies the status quo or, worse, drives it into degradation. Rather it is a glimpse of what we can become and fixing our attention thereon which will inspire us to reach new heights and achieve great things. What is the value of art if it does not inspire us or ennoble us? Alexie certainly did not inspire me or ennoble me with this particular work, and so I cannot recommend it as a good read.2 s Lisa223 1 follower

It's hard to say anything about these stories, because they're so good. They're delightful in substance, style, and soul. Reading them made me feel that Alexie loves writing and loves intensely what he's writing about . . . I think those are the highest qualifications for a writer. My favorite line came in the last story, where the narrator is standing by the side of the road with his dying father.

"I wanted to ask my father about his regrets. I wanted to ask him what was the worst thing he'd ever done. His greatest sin. I wanted to ask him if there was any reason why the Catholic Church would consider him for sainthood. I wanted to open up his dictionary and find the definitions for faith, hope, goodness, sadness, tomato, son, mother, husband, virginity, Jesus, wood, sacrifice, pain, foot, wife, thumb, hand, bread, and sex."

It seems kind of naked, that line, reprinted all alone that, but when you get to it at the end of the story, it kind of makes you want to say Amen.american-indian favorites queer ...more2 s Tom717 5

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