A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie was born in 1966 on an Indian reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. In 1992, after graduating with a degree in American Studies from Washington State University, he received the National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship.

Soon after, he cranked out six poetry and short story collections including "The Business of Fancydancing" and "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." After the publication of his first novel, "Reservation Blues," Granta named him one of their Best Young American Novelists. His second novel, "Indian Killer," was a New York Times notable book.

Hear Alexie read from "Dear John Wayne" from his collection of stories "The Toughest Indian in the World."