 | Ceremony: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Leslie Marmon Silko
Buy new: $10.40 / Used from: $6.78 One of my all-time favorite books. This is a must-read. Beautiful in every way. You can be sure this will be around and will still be read in 50 years. (FYI, you can get an earlier edition for way less $. Just click on "other editions").
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 | Four Souls/Tracks CD by Louise Erdrich
Buy new: $39.95 / Used from: $13.99 Louise Erdrich is the bomb. These earlier novels are the place to start--many of her other books are related to these characters. If you like reading, go for it, but the CDs are the way to go--Anna Fields, the storyteller who reads, is AMAZING. Best thing is she totally captures Nanapush--you won't read these without hearing her voice.
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 | Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
Buy new: $12.00 / Used from: $0.06 This is the place to start with Thomas King. A story after my own heart. (And that's a good enough reason for your to read it, of course.)
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 | The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
Buy new: $11.05 / Used from: $2.12 |
 | The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $5.07 The best place to start with Sherman Alexie. His Smoke Signals screenplay was adapted from some of these short stories; in my opinion the screenplay is the superior story, but as short stories, these are wonderful taken together. Thomas Builds-the-Fire's character is much more developed, even after where Smoke Signals ends.
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 | Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie
Buy new: $10.08 / Used from: $5.84 |
 | Skins by Adrian C. Louis
Buy new: $18.00 / Used from: $7.56 |
 | Fools Crow (Contemporary American Fiction) by James Welch
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $0.01 A classic.
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 | Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Buy new: $10.08 / Used from: $1.98 So I'm kind of torn listing Joseph Boyden as an ndn writer. I mean, yeah, he's part, and writes about Native characters, but most of his experience comes from teaching on a rez as an adult (i.e. he's no Sherman Alexie). But his book is well loved enough though by enough people who I feel have good opinions that I think it's worth listing.
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 | House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
Buy new: $11.83 / Used from: $6.23 A classic. A good place to start getting to know Momaday's prolific body of writing.
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 | Shell Shaker by LeAnne Howe
Buy new: $11.07 / Used from: $4.02 |
 | The Translation of Dr. Apelles (Vintage Contemporaries) by David Treuer
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $3.25 |
 | The Light People: A Novel by Gordon Henry
Buy new: $14.96 / Used from: $3.00 |
 | Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 1990 Pulitzer finalist! w00t!
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 | Men on the Moon: Collected Short Stories (Sun Tracks, V. 37) by Simon J. Ortiz
Buy new: $18.95 / Used from: $0.01 A collection of the famed poet's short stories. Simon was one of the early guys; you should also do yourself a favor and buy his poetry collections.
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 | Truth and Bright Water: A Novel by Thomas King
Buy new: $11.21 / Used from: $3.99 So much fun. Definitely a must-have for your library (because I KNOW you're going to buy all these books simply because they're endorsed by me).
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 | Grand Avenue: A Novel in Stories by Greg Sarris
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $0.01 |
 | The Heirs of Columbus by Gerald Vizenor
Buy new: $14.00 / Used from: $1.29 |
 | The Painted Drum CD by Louise Erdrich
Buy new: $34.36 / Used from: $5.90 Beautiful book--one of the more recent novels by Erdrich. I would recommend reading more of the older books before going here--it will be more rewarding when you get to this one, but in my book, this is her third best (Tracks and Four Souls being the top two). This is sadly the last Erdrich book to be read by the late Anna Fields.
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 | Love Medicine: A Novel (P.S.) by Louise Erdrich
Buy used from: $0.31 The best-known Erdrich book. Some have argued that this latest edition (which has added material) is not as good as the original...up to you to decide upon. Also available in audio--although hard to find. Buy any of Louise's books @ birchbarkbooks. com & she'll sign them.
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 | Skeleton of a Bridge by Robert Mirabal
Buy used from: $6.95 A unique, beautiful collection of short stories based on the musician's life growing up in Taos Pueblo. Hard to find now.
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 | Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
Buy new: $12.24 / Used from: $1.13 A rough book for sure. But brilliant.
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 | Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie
Buy new: $9.36 / Used from: $4.45 Short stories! Sherman's forte.
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 | The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich
Buy new: $19.00 / Used from: $0.80 The quirkiest of the bunch. Best heard than read. Some would call this magical realism, but somehow that term isn't at all right when it comes to Native-written stories that get put in this category. You can also get this one via audio download if you hate cassettes. (But this is the cheapest).
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 | Storyteller by Leslie Marmon Silko
Buy new: $12.89 / Used from: $1.50 This is a touchstone of Native lit. Another classic must-read.
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 | GARDENS IN THE DUNES: A Novel by Leslie Marmon Silko
Buy new: $11.25 / Used from: $0.91 Apparently, Leslie says this one is for everyone who made it through Almanac and survived.
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 | Power: A Novel by Linda Hogan
Buy new: $10.04 / Used from: $1.90 |
 | Flight: A Novel by Sherman Alexie
Buy new: $10.08 / Used from: $3.86 Funny, brutal, creative, and yes, whether or not you like it, you will probably shed a tear at the end. All because of pimple medicine.
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 | In the Bear's House by N. Scott Momaday
Buy used from: $5.84 |
 | Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $6.99 You should buy the audio version. Sherman reads it and is awesome. And you can bet he reads Marie Polatkin better than you ever will. Marie deserves her own book.
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 | Wild Indians And Other Creatures (Western Literature Series) by Adrian C. Louis
Buy new: $18.00 / Used from: $2.99 Short stories by Adrian.
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 | Miko Kings: An Indian Baseball Story by LeAnne Howe
Buy new: $10.16 / Used from: $5.14 |
 | Watermelon Nights by Greg Sarris
Buy used from: $0.01 |
 | Tales of Burning Love: A Novel by Louise Erdrich
Buy new: $11.20 / Used from: $0.01 |
 | Pushing the Bear (Harvest American Writing) by Diane Glancy
Buy new: $11.90 / Used from: $0.75 Well, I wasn't planning to include a lot of historical type fiction, and I don't love this one, but I do appreciate it. On one hand I question the novelization of the Trail of Tears in this tone, but it's well written and evocative.
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 | Medicine River by Thomas King
Buy new: $11.25 / Used from: $2.93 Not his best novel, but very enjoyable and accessible. Very understated and funny portrayal of life on that particular rez.
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 | Born With A Tooth by Joseph Boyden
Buy new: $13.60 / Used from: $17.94 Boyden's first book of short stories.
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 | Shadow Catcher by Charles Fergus
Buy used from: $0.92 An unfairly overlooked story (and exception on this list b/c I don't think Fergus is Native; if he is, he doesn't pose. 2 of his 3 protagonists are white, which makes this okay by me). Staying true to his metaphor of the candid photo, he doesnt judge or moralize his characters' perspectives, so it might sound different to different readers. Beautifully-written, unsentimental, & insightful story.
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