SOURCE: Sherman, Alexie, and Erik Himmelsbach. “Reluctant Spokesman.” Los Angeles Times (17 December 1996): E1, E6.

In the following interview, Alexie discusses his hesitancy to serve as a representative of the Native-American community at large, his tribe's often bitter attitude toward him, and the film industry's preconceptions about Native Americans.

Sherman Alexie is ready to play cards with Satan.

The 30-year-old author is hunkered down at the Beverly Prescott, in town to discuss the film rights to his latest novel, Indian Killer, a slyly subversive potboiler about a serial murderer whose actions spark a modern battle of cowboys and Indians in Seattle. It may seem like perfect big-screen fodder, but Alexie, a Spokane Coeur d'Alene, harbors no illusions and is prepared for the inevitable raw deal from Hollywood.

“The real problem is that there's no white hero in my book,” he says. “They want loincloths. They want sweat lodges and...