Catcher in the Rye for minorities

An Indian without reservations to visit CSUMB in AprilA Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie, 41, has also had a successful career as a playwright, filmmaker and teacher, and other books and films have drawn on his Indian heritage. But, he told the Seattle Times, "Absolutely True Diary" may be the book that's closest to the life he led.

"I was afraid of my own history," he said in an interview posted on the National Book Awards website. Yet he overcame his anxiety to write of his life in a book that has riveted adolescents.

"The number of brown-skinned teenagers who have embraced the book is so great," he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "One kid told me, 'This is like "Catcher in the Rye" for minorities,' and this award makes it feel like that's true."Comment:  For more on the subject, see All About Sherman Alexie.