by Sherman Alexie

Sherman J. Alexie, Jr. is of Spokane Indian ancestry on his mother’s side and Coeur d’Alene Indian descent on his father’s. A novelist, short-story writer, poet, filmmaker, and stand-up comedian, Alexie was born one of six siblings on October 7, 1966, and grew up in Wellpinit, Washington, located on the Spokane Indian Reservation approximately 50 miles northwest of Spokane. The author was born hydrocephalic—with water on the brain— and underwent major brain surgery when he was six months old. He was not expected to survive and suffered seizures through childhood. After receiving the same textbook his mother used when she attended the reservation’s school, a sign of the decrepit state of reservation education, Alexie transferred to a school off the reservation to complete his high-school years. Alexie attended Gonzaga...