3.5
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
ByPublisher Description
The twenty-four linked tales in Alexie's debut collection—an instant classic—paint an unforgettable portrait of life on and around the Spokane Indian Reservation, a place where "Survival = Anger x Imagination," where HUD houses and generations of privation intertwine with history, passion, and myth.
We follow Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the longwinded storyteller no one really listens to; his half-hearted nemesis, Victor, the basketball star turned recovering alcoholic; and a wide cast of other vividly drawn characters on a haunting journey filled with humor and sorrow, resilience and resignation, dreams and reality. Alexie's unadulterated honesty and boundless compassion come together in a poetic vision of a world in which the gaps between past and present are not really gaps after all.
The basis for the acclaimed 1998 feature film
,the
noted, "
. . . is for the American Indian what Richard Wright's
was for the black American in 1940."
The collection received a Special Citation for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Fiction.
This ebook edition features a new prologue from the author, as well as an illustrated biography and rare photos from Sherman Alexie's personal collection.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Reviews
3.5
“Alexie's prose is amazingly textured and poetic, imbued with raw emotion, rage, and sorrow. Yet there are still moments for joy, humor, and affection. An important read!
(this was my first TBR jar pull for 2026, and was assigned reading for school. I either skimmed or didn't read it 15 years ago, and its been sitting on my shelf since, but glad I got to it now! ... Sorry, Prof D...)”
About Sherman Alexie
A National Book Award-winning author, poet, and filmmaker,
is one of the most well-known and beloved literary writers of his generation. His works of fiction, including
,
, and
, have received numerous awards and citations. He lives in Seattle. Like Thunder Boy Jr., Sherman was named for his father.
Since migrating to the United States from Mexico in 1994,
has created some of our most celebrated children's books, including
,
, and many others. She is the winner of several awards, including a Pura Belpré Medal and a Caldecott Honor for
. Yuyi divides her time between Mexico and California.
Other books by Sherman Alexie
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