The Austin American-Statesman interviewed Spokane/Coeur d'Alene author Sherman Alexie, whose latest book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," has been nominated for a National Book Award.
"American-Statesman: I've read a lot about your life story, and see a lot of it in "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Did you start out writing a memoir?
Sherman Alexie: Actually, yes. I signed a deal for a family memoir eight years ago, and this is a surgical excision. That memoir is about my family's history with World War II. And this year — my first year at the white high school — just didn't fit. So I pulled it out. And I didn't really think about it until a young adult editor asked me if I had an idea, and I thought, "Yes, I do."
American-Statesman: Why did you make the book a novel rather than, say, a memoir for young people?
Alexie: I didn't want it to be overtly self-aggrandizing. It still is, in some sense. It's a pretty amazing story, and I didn't want to write some rags to riches story. By making it fictional, I was able to change Arnold's journey a bit, make him at the same time smarter and more fragile in ways that made it a much more — I'm trying to think of the term — well, the funny thing is, by making it fictional, I made it more realistic.
American-Statesman: Was Arnold's voice hard to achieve?
Alexie: The first two or three drafts of the novel were easy, and then the editing started. It's like sanding. It's not taking a saw to it; it's taking a piece of sandpaper and working it for hours and hours.
American-Statesman:Your book includes this blurb from Neil Gaiman: "I have no doubt that in a year or so it'll both be winning awards and being banned." There's some strong language here. What do you think of the idea that some people might consider it inappropriate?
Alexie: Nothing helps a book more. What I've learned is that what a lot of young adult authors do is, once they hear a book is banned in a school, they ship copies to the nearest library. With this book and its subject matter and its intensity, I've become a grunt in the culture war."
Get the Story:Sherman Alexie, without reservations (The Austin American-Statesman 10/31) Relevant Links:
Sherman Alexie - http://www.fallsapart.com Related Stories:
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