October 15, 2013

How to Write the Great American Indian Novel

Excerpt from a poem by Sherman Alexie:

How to Write the Great American Indian Novel

By Sherman AlexieAll of the Indians must have tragic features: tragic noses, eyes, and arms.
Their hands and fingers must be tragic when they reach for tragic food.

The hero must be a half-breed, half white and half Indian, preferably
from a horse culture. He should often weep alone. That is mandatory.

If the hero is an Indian woman, she is beautiful. She must be slender
and in love with a white man. But if she loves an Indian man

then he must be a half-breed, preferably from a horse culture.
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