Comments (24)

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Mar 18, 2023lisac925 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Due to the style in which this memoir was put together, split up with poems and short stories, I found it difficult to follow along with and want to continue reading. But, I am glad I finished it. Something from the heart, mind and soul.
Jan 07, 2023maipenrai rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I am / was a fan of the writing of Sherman Alexie. I was very sad to learn of multiple cases of sexual harassment by the author and that he has admitted that he has "harmed people". Perhaps this knowledge would not have affected my…
Jan 26, 2022LeslieDRobertson rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
In the wake of revelations about Sherman Alexie's shitty behaviour to women, to Indigenous women writers in particular, it's gotten hard to talk about his work without referring to that knowledge about who he is and how he has behaved.…
Apr 06, 2021tallymebananna rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I think this book was recommended to me by an algorithm that decided I was looking for material about parent/child relationships. It wasn't entirely wrong. I took a chance and put it on hold, and then put it on hold a little longer as it…
Oct 31, 2018PimaLib_ChristineR rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Having followed Alexie's career practically from the start (his first book of poetry and first book of short stories came out while I was still an English undergrad and were required reading by the time I started graduate school), I went…
Oct 23, 2018pokano rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Highly readable memoir about the pain of being Sherman Alexie, born poor, hydrocephalic, with a host of other health problems and two alcoholic parents, although his mother sobered up during his childhood and remained so for the rest of…
Feb 08, 2018ryner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Written following the death of his mother in 2015, well-known writer Sherman Alexie opens up in this memoir about their difficult and fraught relationship, family secrets, his miserable childhood growing up on the Spokane reservation, and…
Jan 21, 2018DorisWaggoner rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I've read a couple of Alexie's novels and enjoyed them, and a few years ago heard him speak and enjoyed that even more. This memoir jarred me, in a positive sense. How could someone who suffered as he has come out the way he has? How…
Jan 02, 2018vickmeister rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
The collective experience that Sherman Alexie shares about his life and those of his extended family in the Salish tribe is soaked in sorrow and justifiable outrage, even when you consider the author’s frequent and almost proud declaration…
Dec 29, 2017patcarstensen rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
No amount of joking, storytelling or using dirty words changes the fact that your mother has died.
Dec 26, 2017marcrrussell rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I found the prose passages to be even more poetic than his great poems... I would read Ikea instructions, if written by this man!
Nov 30, 2017vm510 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Sherman Alexie's voice is so important and his style is so unique. I love his blending of humor, anger, resentment, and sadness. His work is bittersweet, devastating, and lighthearted all at once. I went from laughing one chapter to…
Oct 30, 2017howiecat rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Wonderful. Moving. He has a true gift.
Oct 11, 2017ownedbydoxies rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
What do you do when your childhood is a mix of violence and fear and occasional moments of joy and humor, and you are a very talented writer of renown? Well, in his case, Sherman Alexie sat down and wrote this incredibly beautiful, often…
Sep 30, 2017Roundcat rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Having heard of Sherman Alexie for several years, I decided I should widen my world by reading his latest book. It was a view into the author's world told in snips and pieces, somewhat like his mother's quilts, as he describes it. I…
Sep 24, 2017novereem rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a courageous, open, and fierce memoir. I just finished it and may need a few days to think about what he taught me about grief by just honestly sharing his.
Sep 23, 2017taylorwoods rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Sherman Alexie has officially been inducted into my Hall of Fame for favorite writers and, shockingly, I’m a part of the few who have yet to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I have never been more inspired,…
Sep 13, 2017gingerbeer rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Sherman Alexie has written an unusual memoir filled with grief, humour, bitterness and hope; a sad but also hopeful look at the legacy of a mother's love and the painful process of grieving an imperfect parent.
Sep 13, 2017PimaLib_NormS rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I had heard of Sherman Alexie. I knew he was a Native American writer, but I was unfamiliar with his work. Then I heard an interview with him on NPR. He was there to promote his latest book, a memoir, entitled “You Don’t Have to Say You…
Sep 08, 2017laphampeak rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A memoir, not just about family and grief, but one of acceptance, release of bitterness, and finally being comfortable in our own skin - no matter the color, no matter the family background, or any other limiting condition.
Sep 08, 2017lindab1111 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
What a beautiful, funny, sad, powerful book. I heard Sherman Alexie in an interview on NPR. I was hooked. There is so much here. Racism, family dynamics, life on a reservation, extreme health issues, and so much more. What a rich story.
Aug 06, 2017brangwinn rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
What a heartbreaking memoir about a flawed mother who nevertheless helped shape Alexie into one of the most honest fiction writers of today.
Jul 01, 2017katiedog13 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The author is a poet, so there is poetry interspersed throughout the book. The book's main focus is relationship with his mother and his grief after she died.
Jun 05, 2017IanS_Librarian rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I have always been a fan of Sherman Alexie but I didn't know his whole story. This book is an amazing window into the adversity our indigenous citizens have to face and is widely unknown or ignored by many of us. It is also a great…