Dave Welch, “Revising Sherman Alexie,” interview held on 15 May 2007 in
Portland, Oregon, Powell ’s Books, http://www.powells.com/interviews/sher-
manalexie.html [accessed 16 November 2009].
Discusses Alexie’s considering himself a “colonized mind” as a writer, using the
types of metaphors and situations that typify writing from colonial and post-
colonial situations (such as an orphaned protagonist); his unconventional public
readings and stand-up comic performance style; and his desire to rewrite and
republish his novel Flight every few years.
Criticism
Kathleen L. Carroll, “Ceremonial Tradition as Form and Theme in Sherman
Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven: A Performance-
Based Approach to Native American Literature,” Journal of the Midwest
Modern Language Association, 38 (Spring 2005): 74–84.
Advocates using a performance-based approach to Alexie’s work in the classroom,
focusing on the art of Native American storytelling, to overcome student discom-
fort with his use of stereotypes and his sometimes confrontational tone.
Joseph L. Coulombe, “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman
Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and
Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven,” American Indian Quarterly, 26 (Winter 2002):
94–115.
Thoroughly examines Alexie’s complex deployment of humor, arguing that it
operates much like Trickster, embodying “shifting meanings and serv[ing] con-
flicting ends,” and that it is ultimately most valuable for creating dialogue about
social and moral issues significant to Indian communities.
James Cox, “Muting White Noise: The Subversion of Popular Culture Narratives
of Conquest in Sherman Alexie’s Fiction,” SAIL, 9 (Winter 1997): 52–70.
Discusses how Alexie’s fiction illustrates that contemporary Indians are damaged
by the stereotypical depictions of them in popular culture—particularly movie
and television—and how he critiques and refutes these characterizations.
Jerome DeNuccio, “Slow Dancing with Skeletons: Sherman Alexie’s The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven,” Critique, 44 (Fall 2002): 86–96.
Close reading of many stories in the collection, highlighting themes of subjectiv-
ity and reconciling a painful past (tribal and personal) with present existence and
hope for the future, arguing that stories “teach survival.”
Andrew Dix, “Escape Stories: Narratives and Native Americans in Sherman
Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven,” Yearbook of English
Studies, 31 (2001): 155–167.
Compares Alexie’s writing to that of Leslie Marmon Silko, contrasting their dif-
fering depictions of storytelling and seeing Alexie as much more skeptical about
the political and social power of storytelling.