What I've Stolen, What I've Earned
Prolific poet, fiction writer, and filmmaker Alexie has established himself as “one of the major lyric voices of our time,” reviewer James Kincaid wrote upon publication of Alexie’s debut book of poems, The Business of Fancydancing (1992). In his thirteenth poetry collection, Alexie continues to explore the quirks and tragedies of Native American legacies with irreverent wit, dexterous shifts in poetic form, and the same wide range of subject matter as his most recent collection, Face (2009). From atypical sonnets on Wikipedia and Kobe Bryant, to odes addressed to Elvis Costello and Dolly Parton, Alexie takes on whatever  crosses his mind. An instinctual storyteller, Alexie embraces a casual, freely associative style, sliding from life on the Spokane Indian Reservation to self-aware commentary on poetic techniques to a list of  “The Top 100 Songs of 1984.” As with previous books, Alexie has no problem bending genre, blending prose into poetry, and allowing “an action-adventure movie about Emily Dickinson” to interrupt a sonnet on colonialism. Fans of Alexie’s work will appreciate his characteristic humor, keen insight, and conversational style. --Diego Báez--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.