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A review by oiamberleigh
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
4.0
* This review contains spoilers *
Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is the humorous and lyrical tale of high school freshman Arnold Spirit Jr. navigating a double life. At home, he is a "retard on the rez" (pg. 4) who faces endless bullying from fellow members of the Spokane nation due partly to the effects of being born with hydrocephalus and partly due to being a proper nerd. 22 miles away, he is a championship-winning basketball star and the only indigenous student at Reardan High. Bouncing between these two lives, Arnold navigates racism, classism, and disability through the lens of a hopeful, goofy, occasionally crude teenager. His diary captures his struggles with issues of loyalty, identity, friendship, and grief as he struggles to make sense of his own duality.
It’s not particularly shocking that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian has been one of the most heavily contested books within the genre for well over a decade. Not only does Alexie shine light on the taboo parts of teenhood that many would prefer to keep hidden, he does so with a lethal combination of humor and nonchalance that threatens to strip topics like masturbation and poorly timed lust of their shameful connotations altogether. When Arnold calls himself a world-class masturbator with the brazen commentary, “I’m going to talk about it because EVERYBODY does it. And EVERYBODY likes it. And if God hadn’t wanted us to masturbate, then God wouldn’t have given us thumbs. So I thank God for my thumbs,” (pg. 26), and doodles his fantasy of making out with vomit-breathed Penelope after he catches her purging her lunch (pg. 108), he is challenging the status quo in a meaningful way by creating a sense of normalcy for readers where society has long pushed for shame.
The real “danger” of Alexie’s work, however, is the degree of nuance he uses when depicting and discussing race. Not only does he create a cast of Indigenous characters who embody the worst of native stereotyping and the best of humanity in the same breath (Eugene, for example, who is one of the only members of Arnold’s community who supports his ventures at Reardan (pg. 71) and also a crippling alcoholic who eventually gets himself killed in a drunken brawl over the last sip from a bottle of wine (pg. 169)), but he also extends an incredible amount of grace to what could only be described as the “casual racists” Arnold encounters in his predominantly-white school. For example, when we are introduced to senior Reardan athlete Roger, it’s through a barrage of racial slurs and one of the most truly vile “jokes” I’ve ever read in my life (pg. 64). So vile, in fact, that subsequent printings of the book often edit it out entirely. By the end of the book, however, Arnold admires Roger, despite taking no explicit accountability for his bigotry. They are teammates, confidents, and true friends. Alexie repeats this pattern throughout the book in way that seems to acknowledge the interconnectedness of racism and ignorance born from homogony and suggest that teenagers raised in white, middle-class bubbles shouldn’t be villainized for their initial responses to diversity, even if those responses are incredibly cruel. This grace even extends to Mr. P, Arnold’s geometry teacher on the reservation who pushes him to change schools with a twisted story of his own history as a white educator who regularly administered corporal punishment in order to “kill the Indian to save the child,” (pg. 35).
The nuance of the story is largely what makes it difficult to recommend. Are you an indigenous teenager struggling to find validation with overwhelming feelings of grief and futility? This is definitely the book for you. Are you a white teenager with no interest in “reading between the lines?” I beg of you, give this one a pass. Are you an adult wondering what all the hype is about? It could go either way. Ultimately, I believe the only reason we fight to ban books is because there’s something powerful hidden within, so if you are willing and able to extend as much grace and nuance to the story as the author extends to his characters, it’s a worthy read.
Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is the humorous and lyrical tale of high school freshman Arnold Spirit Jr. navigating a double life. At home, he is a "retard on the rez" (pg. 4) who faces endless bullying from fellow members of the Spokane nation due partly to the effects of being born with hydrocephalus and partly due to being a proper nerd. 22 miles away, he is a championship-winning basketball star and the only indigenous student at Reardan High. Bouncing between these two lives, Arnold navigates racism, classism, and disability through the lens of a hopeful, goofy, occasionally crude teenager. His diary captures his struggles with issues of loyalty, identity, friendship, and grief as he struggles to make sense of his own duality.
It’s not particularly shocking that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian has been one of the most heavily contested books within the genre for well over a decade. Not only does Alexie shine light on the taboo parts of teenhood that many would prefer to keep hidden, he does so with a lethal combination of humor and nonchalance that threatens to strip topics like masturbation and poorly timed lust of their shameful connotations altogether. When Arnold calls himself a world-class masturbator with the brazen commentary, “I’m going to talk about it because EVERYBODY does it. And EVERYBODY likes it. And if God hadn’t wanted us to masturbate, then God wouldn’t have given us thumbs. So I thank God for my thumbs,” (pg. 26), and doodles his fantasy of making out with vomit-breathed Penelope after he catches her purging her lunch (pg. 108), he is challenging the status quo in a meaningful way by creating a sense of normalcy for readers where society has long pushed for shame.
The real “danger” of Alexie’s work, however, is the degree of nuance he uses when depicting and discussing race. Not only does he create a cast of Indigenous characters who embody the worst of native stereotyping and the best of humanity in the same breath (Eugene, for example, who is one of the only members of Arnold’s community who supports his ventures at Reardan (pg. 71) and also a crippling alcoholic who eventually gets himself killed in a drunken brawl over the last sip from a bottle of wine (pg. 169)), but he also extends an incredible amount of grace to what could only be described as the “casual racists” Arnold encounters in his predominantly-white school. For example, when we are introduced to senior Reardan athlete Roger, it’s through a barrage of racial slurs and one of the most truly vile “jokes” I’ve ever read in my life (pg. 64). So vile, in fact, that subsequent printings of the book often edit it out entirely. By the end of the book, however, Arnold admires Roger, despite taking no explicit accountability for his bigotry. They are teammates, confidents, and true friends. Alexie repeats this pattern throughout the book in way that seems to acknowledge the interconnectedness of racism and ignorance born from homogony and suggest that teenagers raised in white, middle-class bubbles shouldn’t be villainized for their initial responses to diversity, even if those responses are incredibly cruel. This grace even extends to Mr. P, Arnold’s geometry teacher on the reservation who pushes him to change schools with a twisted story of his own history as a white educator who regularly administered corporal punishment in order to “kill the Indian to save the child,” (pg. 35).
The nuance of the story is largely what makes it difficult to recommend. Are you an indigenous teenager struggling to find validation with overwhelming feelings of grief and futility? This is definitely the book for you. Are you a white teenager with no interest in “reading between the lines?” I beg of you, give this one a pass. Are you an adult wondering what all the hype is about? It could go either way. Ultimately, I believe the only reason we fight to ban books is because there’s something powerful hidden within, so if you are willing and able to extend as much grace and nuance to the story as the author extends to his characters, it’s a worthy read.