The Lone Ranger and Tonto fistfight in Heaven is Sherman Alexie's first collection of stories, some written when he was only 19. The movie Smoke Signals, which I loved, is based on this collection of stories. Here, Alexie gives us a rather bleak depiction of reservation life near Spokane Washington for modern day Indians. Almost every story features very drunk Indians, often getting in fights. But there is so much more here. His writing is beautiful, poetic, sparse, lyrical, funny. There is hope in these pages and they hint at something deeper; family, tradition, storytelling, love and joy.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian remains my favorite book by Alexie, but this collection is worth a read as well.
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