Sherman Alexie Biography

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Sherman Alexie Sherman Alexie is an award-winning, creative author. He is also an occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a modern Native American. Some of Sherman's best known works include The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Smoke Signals, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. He lives in Seattle, Washington. Sherman Alexie was born October 7, 1966 in Wellpinit, Washington. He was born with hydrocephaly, which is known as excess fluid in the brain. Surgery was possible, but if he did survive it then mental retardation could have been a side effect. Alexie survived the operation and, as a toddler, he knew he would turn out to be a famous person. Alexie endured many seizures until he was seven years old. To control the seizures, he had to take many strong, lithium drugs. Alexie was unable to participate in any of the strenuous activities that were required for young Indian males. So in order to be a success, he had to be smarter than everyone else. As a young child, he was bullied and had his nose broken five times in school for being the smart kid. Alexie read anything he could get a hold of. He would even read auto repair manuals. At the age of twelve, he had read the entire library at his school. In 1981 he transferred to a school in Spokane. He was the only student with Native heritage and excelled in academics and sports. He played basketball and became the class president, which earned him a scholarship to Gonzaga University. Gonzaga’s pre-med curriculum was too much for Alexie, so he switched to law. Just like pre-med, he did not like that class either and dropped it. Feeling depressed, he started drinking to relieve his problems. He finally found comfort in literature. He later enrolled at Washington State University and took writing classes. At first he did not picture himself as a writer. He
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