Tough Paradise - The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993) is a series of linked stories about contemporary life on and near the Spokane Indian Reservation. Angry, funny, bitter, these stories frankly depict the distance and the psychological and physical violence between people of different cultures, genders, and generations, yet the stories also testify to the power of hope and of cultural traditions. Alexie's screenplay for the movie "Smoke Signals" was based on portions of the book.
Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, has published short stories, poetry, novels, and essays and has received numerous awards for his work. Reservation Blues is Alexie's first novel.
Theme Essay
http://libraries.idaho.gov/node/495
"The Place of Janet Campbell Hale and Sherman Alexie in American Indian Literature," by Dennis Walsh, Idaho State University.
Information on Sherman Alexie
http://www.fallsapart.com/biography.html
The official Sherman Alexie web site includes his biography, a bibliography, reviews and list of awards.
Book Reviews of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
http://www.fallsapart.com/rvw-lrkr.html
Kirkus Reviews, June 30, 1993.
http://www.fallsapart.com/rvw-lrbl.html
Booklist, September 1, 1993
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