, poet
, filmmaker, and occasional comedian
. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American
. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
(1994), a book of short stories and Smoke Signals
, a film. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
, a semi-autobiographical young adult novel for which he won a 2007 National Book Award
, was his latest commercial success. He lives in Seattle, Washington
.
Sherman Alexie was born on October 7, 1966 in the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington
.
When a glass sits on a table here, people don't wonder if it's half filled or half empty. They just hope it's good beer.
Victor: Get Stoic.
Thomas: Sometimes it's a good day to die, and sometimes it's a good day to have breakfast.
Nurse: You guys are like the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Thomas: We're more like Tonto and Tonto.
Randy Peone: It's a good day to be indigenous!
He hated to leave, but he loved his work. He was a man, and men needed to work. More sexism! More masculine tunnel vision! More need for gender-sensitivity workshops!
He wondered if she would dream about a man who never left her, about some unemployed agoraphobic Indian warrior who liked to wash dishes.
I don't want long hair, I don't want short hair, I don't want hair at all, and I don't want to be a girl or a boy, I want to be a yellow-orange leaf some little kid picks up and pastes in his scrapbook.