Gale - A Study Guide for Sherman Alexies The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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Sherman Alexie

2007

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007) is the seventh book of fiction by Sherman Alexie, probably the most well-known Native American writer of the twenty-first century. It is his first book written specifically for young-adult readers. Based on Alexie's own life, it tells the story of one year in the life of Arnold Junior Spirit, a fourteen-year-old boy from the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington who transfers to the wealthy all-white Reardan High School at the beginning of his freshman year. By choosing Reardan, Junior finds that he is considered both a traitor on the reservation and an outsider at school. His names reflect his internal split: he is called Junior at home and Arnold at school. He is, in his words, only a part-time Indian, and his challenge is to find his way and his identity through this complex life. The novel is narrated by Junior himself and includes the vulgar language, sexual references, and gritty situations common to adolescent boys. One important feature of the novel is the illustration by Ellen Forney. Junior is a cartoonist, and the novel is sprinkled with his funny and touching drawings of people and events.

The Absolutely True Diary is typical of Alexie's work in its settingthe Spokane Indian Reservation where the author himself grew upand in its realistic portrayal of the harshness of many Native American lives. The novel won several important awards, including the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature in Fiction. It has been published in twelve countries other than the United States. It has also become one of the most frequently challenged books in schools and libraries, as many adults have found the book too crude or too negative for young readers.

Alexie was born on October 7, 1966, in Wellpinit, Washington, a small town on the Spokane Indian Reservation. His father was a member of the Coeur d'Alene tribe, and his mother was Spokane. While Alexie's father, a logger and trucker, was often away from the family, either working or drinking, his mother supported her six children with an office job and part-time sewing.

Alexie was born with hydrocephalus, also known as water on the brain. After many childhood struggles, including a life-threatening surgery and years of seizures, he largely overcame the condition. Like many children who grow up to be writers, he was an avid reader and serious about his education. Alexie attended schools on the reservation through eighth grade and then asked to be sent to Reardan High School, an all-white school in the small but wealthy town of Reardan, Washington, about twenty miles from Wellpinit. There, he was teased and bullied because of his enlarged head and because he was the only Native American at the school, but he gained some respect by excelling on the basketball court and in the classroom. During Alexie's teen years, one of his older sisters was killed in a fire in her mobile home.

After high school, Alexie attended Gonzaga University for a couple of years, but he began drinking heavily and dropped out. Months later, he decided to start over and enrolled at Washington State University, where he found his way to a poetry workshop and discovered his talent for writing. He graduated in 1991 with a degree in American Studies and published his first book, a collection of poems, The Business of Fancy Dancing, the next year. The book received good reviews and more national attention than a first book of poetry typically draws; soon he published two more books of poetry, followed by the story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993) and the novel Reservation Blues (1995). In less than five years, he became the most well-known Native American writer of his generation. He wrote poetry, short stories, novels, essays, and reviews, and his first film, the award-winning Smoke Signals (1998), was the first nationally distributed feature film written, directed by, and starring Native Americans.

Alexie has worked throughout his career to find new outlets and new role models for Native American teens. In 2005, he became one of the founders of Longhouse Media, an organization that trains young people to make films. His first book for young readers is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007). The book's central character, Arnold Junior Spirit, shares many qualities and experiences with the author. The novel won several awards, including the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

As of 2011, Alexie has published several books of poetry and fiction and has written and produced three films. He is outspoken against the practice of converting books to electronic formats and does not allow his own books to be made available for electronic readers. He is a popular speaker and reader and also occasionally does stand-up comedy. He lives in Seattle with his wife Diane Tomhave and their two sons.