Review
Gazelle Emami
HUFFINGTON
09.23.12
Lonely and
Laughing
by
Gazelle
Emami
Senior culture editor,
Huffington.
GETTY IMAGES/AGE FOTOSTOCK RM
D
ON’T GO CALLING Sherman Alexie’s stories universal.
“When people say universal they mean white people get it,”
he argues. His assessment is even more damning when you
consider his subject matter — modern-day American Indians. If there’s any group white people get, this is not it.
But scan through the themes recycled in Alexie’s stories
(loneliness, grief, depression), and universal would seem an
obvious word choice, one selected by approving reviewers
with the best intentions. Alexie is partially to blame for the