The Business of Fancydancing

by Sherman Alexie

Poetry. Fiction. Published in 1992, well before Sherman Alexie became well-known as the screenwriter for the film SMOKE SIGNALS, THE BUSINESS OF FANCYDANCING has now been turned into a film with none other than Alexie himself in his directorial debut. The screenplay for the movie, which recently won the Audience Award at the San Francisco Film Festival, is loosly adapted from this book. Many film-goers will want to visit or revisit the elegaic poems and stories that set the tone for the film itself. "In an age when many 'Native American' writers publish books that prove their ignorance of the real Indian world, Sherman Alexie paints painfully honest visions of our beautiful and brutal lives"—Adrian C. Louis.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Short Stories, Native American, Indigenous, Adult, Literature

84 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Sherman Alexie is a Native American author, poet, and filmmaker known for his powerful portrayals of contemporary Indigenous life, often infused with wit, humor, and emotional depth. Drawing heavily on his experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Alexie's work addresses complex themes such as identity, poverty, addiction, and the legacy of colonialism, all filtered through a distinctly Native perspective.
His breakout book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is a semi-autobiographical young adult novel that won the 2007 National Book Award and remains widely acclaimed for its candid and humorous depiction of adolescence and cultural dislocation. Earlier, Alexie gained critical attention with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, a collection of interconnected short stories that was adapted into the Sundance-winning film Smoke Signals (1998), for which he wrote the screenplay. He also authored the novels Reservation Blues, Indian Killer, and Flight, as well as numerous poetry collections including The Business of Fancydancing and Face.
Born with hydrocephalus, Alexie faced health and social challenges from an early age but demonstrated early academic talent and a deep love for reading. He left the reservation for high school and later studied at Washington State University, where a poetry course shifted his path toward literature. His mentor, poet Alex Kuo, introduced him to Native American writers, profoundly shaping his voice.
In 2018, Alexie faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment, which led to widespread fallout, including rescinded honors and changes in how his work is promoted in educational and literary institutions. He acknowledged causing harm but denied specific accusations. Despite the controversy, his influence on contemporary Native American literature remains significant.
Throughout his career, Alexie has received many awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award for War Dances and an American Book Award for Reservation Blues. He has also been a prominent advocate for Native youth and a founding member of Longhouse Media, promoting Indigenous storytelling through film.
Whether through poetry, prose, or film, Alexie’s work continues to challenge stereotypes and elevate Native American voices in American culture.

Reviews

[Murray ᛘᚢᛦᛦᛅᛁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Native American author who has the ability to tell amazing stories of the people and tribes indigenous to the American Northwest.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Builds-The-Fire left me crying in a Starbucks.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slice of life poetry and flash fiction; this early work by Alexie is a strong beginning for his career. While the poetry was moving and well-done, he truly shines in the short narratives.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian last summer, I decided to work my way through Alexie's oeuvre since I had already also read and enjoyed Reservation Blues. Two short story collections and one novel later, I was done. Not in that my task was completed but in that I couldn't take anymore. Then The Business of Fancydancing came into my possession after waiting about six months for it. Unwilling to let the book go after waiting so long for it, I decided to see what the first page was like. Ten hours later I had finished it.

The Business of Fancydancing: Stories and Poems is Alexie's first published work (from 1991). As the subtitle suggests, the book is considered a collection of stories and poems. However, since most of the stories are less than five pages I think a fair argument could be made that the five stories are actually prose poems instead of stories. That might just be me though.

Like any of Alexie's other writing, this collection includes instances of beauty as well as sadness. In the opening story "Travels" a hungry youth is told to make a jam sandwich by taking two slices of bread and jamming them together (unless a wish sandwich is more to his liking). This image recurs often in the collection.

After reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and The Toughest Indian in the World, I must admit I had my doubts about Alexie's short stories--they never seemed as engaging as his novels. That isn't a problem here even though all of the stories are much shorter than anything found in his later collections. Very like the poems, Alexie's stories here are bare bones. Instead of full stories (in the sense of having a conventional plot) most are vignettes painting brief, eloquent pictures of what life can mean for a Spokane Indian on and off the reservation.

The bulk of The Business of Fancydancing is comprised of poems. The English major in my wants to make some kind of comparison to illustrate what these poems are like, but no quick comparisons come to mind. Suffice it say, the lines are long and the poems deeply grounded in the concrete. One of my favorites in the collection is "Distances" which is literally a series of vignettes along with aphorisms like "Remember this: 'Electricity is lightning pretending to be permanent.'"

Familiar characters who turn up in one of Alexie's later story collections as well as Reservation Blues also make their first appearances here. Thomas Builds-The-Fire, a personal favorite, even has a story all to himself.

I don't know how illustrative this book is of Alexie's current style since his latest work has been novels, but that detail aside The Business of Fancydancing is a superb collection of poetry and serves as a good introduction to Sherman Alexie and his unique style/themes without the visceral, harsh details so often found in his newer writing.

You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print

[Thomas McDade · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the pieces I liked a lot:

Eugene Boyd Don't Drink Here Anymore

The Stranger walks into the bar, orders a beer, and asks me where
the hell Eugene Boyd is, and I tell him, he got shot last year in the
parking lot of the Gold Coin, man, he's dead. The Stranger looks
me in the eyes, looks the whole bar straight in the eyes, and drinks
his beer in one drink. Who the hell did it, the Stranger asks me,
and I tell him that everyone knows but the police ain't going to do
anything about it because when one Indian kills another Indian,
that's considered natural selection. He holds that empty glass tight
and looks in the mirror behind the bar where all our faces are
reflected. All us stoic Indians rehearsing for parts as extras in some
eternal black and white western. Shit, used to be only whites ex-
pected Skins to have monosyllabic faces, but now, we even expect
it of each other. But the Stranger looks in the mirror and he starts
crying. Crying for the dead, not looking forward to the gifts he'll
get from the deceased, not looking forward to the wake, he's crying
for the dead. I used to figure strength was all a matter of being
waterproof, like our houses could never be. So the Stranger throws
his glass at the mirror, shattering us all into pieces, and in the silence
after that the Professor, at the end of the bar, tips his beer and says,
"that was some serious fucking dualism."

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read several of Alexie's books over the years, but never his first, so I scooped it up when I came across it at the library recently. I was heartbroken last year to hear about his repeated sexual harassment of women, but I was still curious to see this relic of more innocent times.

I'm not a poetry fan and the short stories are very, very short, so this was a quick read. Some of it was a little opaque for me, but there are some beautiful phrasing and imagery to be found here. It was also interesting to see the first appearances of themes, settings and characters Alexie has revisited many times throughout his career.

It's a shame he chose to behave in a way that will cast such a shadow over his literary contributions.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this is pretty early on for Alexie, this has some really good stuff in it. It may not hit the same heights as some of his later writing, but you can see in it where he is going to go later. And, as with some of his other collections, I like getting some of his poetry mixed in with some of his prose. I'm less likely to pick up a book of pure poetry and this way I still get to see some of Alexie's poetry. All in all, this is a good collection and I'm glad I read it.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basketball and laughter, fry bread and weeping.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

His first book, the most raw, the least structurally organized, and in some ways the most powerful. It's almost like, lacking the formal tools, he writes with the only thing he knows—unfiltered emotion. Mostly poems in this book. Just five stories, most very short; you can see that he is just starting to move from poems to prose narratives.

[Ceallaigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

“and he spends a few hours every week with a metal detector, / scanning the ground / for that missing part, the part that came out whole and bloodless, / but fills you up with how much it stays gone.” — from “Ceremonies”

TITLE—The Business of Fancydancing
AUTHOR—Sherman Alexie
PUBLISHED—1992

GENRE—poetry & short stories
SETTING—Native Land
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—Indigenous identity, history, culture, mythology, and modern life

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—the story “Special Delivery” which featured a neurodivergent MC was amazing
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I see better with my eyes closed. But I don’t like much of what I see so I have to keep opening them to let in good light.” — from “Special Delivery”

Sherman Alexie presents an incredibly beautiful and insightful portrait of modern Indigenous life and identity. There is so much to love and get out of this collection and every poem and story in the collection was arresting but I especially resonated with the poem “Grandmother” and the short story “Special Delivery”. Alexie is definitely an author I need to read more of—I’m glad I hauled four of his books on my last trip to my favorite used bookstore recently!

I would recommend this collection to ppl who love a modern take on their poetry and short stories. This book is very short and quick while still being beautiful and deep, as well as challenging, thoughtful, and reflective. This is exactly the kind of book I’d bring on a roadtrip actually.

“3 a.m., he picks up Crazy Horse hitchhiking. / Where are you going, asks the reservation cab driver. / Same place you are, Crazy Horse answers / somewhere way up the goddamn road.” — from “Reservation Cab Driver”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

TW // racist / abusive police, mental illness

Further Reading—
- everything else by Sherman Alexie
- Keri Hulme
- Elissa Washuta
- There There, by Tommy Orange
- Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko—TBR

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been thinking about pain, how each of us constructs our past to justify what we feel now. How each successive pain distorts the preceding.

Me, too. Except I was never able to put it in such a beautiful way.

I loved all of this because I am in love with the way Alexie writes. It is (obviously) earlier work but is still solid goodness.

4 Stars

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I’d read this back when I saw the film. I don’t remember much of film, I totally need to see it again, so I can’t comment on comparing the film to the book. In any case, this is quite good.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn.

[Jeff Lochhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked “Distances”! For his first release, it is apparent that what made him an incredible writer was there from the beginning, just more refined with experience.

[Ryan Dunk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wonder if it's my inexperience with verse or my understanding and appreciation for Alexie's later work that have the stronger effect on my perception of this collection. Overall, I felt like the poems were overwrought and even perhaps a bit trite. Alexie usually does a great job of balancing the serious themes of his work with moments of humor. This has the effect, at least to me, of making his more serious moments that much more powerful, and giving a more realistic portrayal of contemporary Indian life, that of humor covering moments of sadness. This collection felt much more loose, for lack of a better term, but I think it suffered because of that. I would recommend The Toughest Indian in the World or basically any of Alexie's novels or short story collections (as I have read all but one) over this.

Edit: If I may speak perfectly honestly, I think the majority of positive reviews are from white people who have this sort of reverential view of native americans, which this book certainly is in line with, if not endorses. Bettys and Veronicas, if you've read Reservation Blues. This work feels more pitiful than honest in many places.

[Jose Roque Perez-Zetune · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was so excited seeing this at the bookstore!!! one step closer to reading all his books. it must’ve felt so exciting reading this when it just came out and knowing alexie was gonna be big.
the stories here are the same he went on to develop and write abt later with thomas builds the fire, lester fallsapart, victor, the house fire, jazz, horses, sports, traveling. what clear artistic vision.
i love the little motifs in the poems with the pawn shop and heart beat, 1876 battle of little bighorn, playing with space and time (gravity), absurd police, the repeated line “my eyes were closed tight in the reservation november night…”
he is such a genius.

my favorites is “at navajo monument valley tribal school” inspired on the photograph by skeet mcauley. he nails the feeling of home and the weight of its history with so little:

the football field rises
to meet the mesa. Indian boys
gallop across the grass, against
the beginning of their body.
On those Saturday afternoons,
unbroken horses gather to watch
their sons growing larger
in the small parts of the world.
Everyone is the quarterback.

[Mary Helene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painful - but insightful. I've read his later books (most recently The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, which is marvelously accessible to all kinds of readers,) and his humor and hope sustain one through the pain. This is his first book, and the pain is more raw, but the humor is still there. I am wondering if I might have the courage to look at despair as he does.
p.s. I write my review before reading other reviews - and then I go on to avidly read what others think. If you do that, too, note all the times "raw" and "hope" are used. Not so many noted the humor; didn't others think it was hysterically funny?

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!
The Business of Fancydancing" is another collection of some great short stories and mostly poetry by a brilliant writer.Sherman Alexie is one of my favorite authors but this book did not move me the way all of his other works did.

Typically, I find myself re-reading pages of his novels because his descriptions remind me of a sucker punch-hard hitting and void of warning; not this time.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful poetry and prose, heart-wrenching.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm amazed by writers who arrive on the scene, already accomplished, already in control. Sherman Alexie's first book -- published in his mid-20s -- is a dazzling mixture of achey poetry, surreal short stories, and punchy flash fiction. That he should be a master of all three forms from the get-go is truly astonishing, especially considering his off-the-cuff habit of dipping his pen into the metaphysical. You never feel him reaching, mind you; you just end up traveling a great internal distance in the space of one paragraph or five pages. This is a writer who knows how to arrive! Endings are many an authors undoing, yet whether Alexie is crafting a verse about life on the reservation or spinning a tale about the cultural riff between the white and the red, "The Business of Fancydancing" repeatedly brings us to a place that causes a shiver. That shiver may be one of sadness or of beauty. It's like a literary Miro accomplishing mind-boggling feats with phrases/symbols that look simple on the surface yet magically end up being gateways to the deepest of meanings thanks to his one-of-a-kind legerdemain.

[Janée Baugher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's unusual to see a multigenre book (poetry and fiction), so kudos to Hanging Loose Press (NY) for this innovative collection. Conversational diction and highly accessible narratives that concern the American/Native Indian culture. From the piece, "Grandmother," the line "when she died / they gave me her clock," really resonated with me, as the same thing happened to me. It was like, "your time has not stopped, so here's a time piece to mark your continued presence while hers has stopped." Three poems in particular was so genius that I transcribed them by hand and have used them in my creative writing classes: "Penance," "At Navajo Monument Valley Tribal School," and "Indian Boy Love Song (#3)." Because I love ekphrasis, I was particularly delighted to see an ekphrastic poem that was influenced by a photograph by Skeet McAuley.

[Andres Eguiguren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Alexie's first published work, and it contains some 40 poems and five short stories in one slim volume. I am currently reading his memoir "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (published in 2017) and his publications in the intervening twenty-five years make it clear that his work is very much autobiographical and largely inspired by his circumstances growing up poor in an Indian reservation in Washington State. This collection has many humorous, funny moments mixed in with the sad and nearly tragic, so the overall effect is somewhat bittersweet. I particularly liked the story "Special Delivery," where the main character's magical realism is fueled by alcoholism.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Like most works I have read by Sherman Alexie, this collection of poems and stories cut me deep in the heart. He has a way with speaking of tragedy and grief that almost brings humor to the reading. It's quite obvious that he has "seen some sh*t" and it's utterly inspiring to me that the has taken said sh*t and decided to make beauty with it...what else is humanity for, if not using our talents and passions to express our deepest hurts?

I'll be reading more of Alexie in the coming months and I'd recommend others do the same. I would caution to know that his content can lead to heavy-heartedness, but sometimes that realism is necessary.

[Ramona Mead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected to fly through this short book, but that wasn't the case. Although the poems and stories are each brief, I found I couldn't read more than two pieces at a time without needing to stop, to process and contemplate what I'd read. Alexie is able to say a great deal about Indian culture without using many words. His writing, as always, is vivid and lyrical. Each book of his I read opens my eyes and mind, more and more to the history and lifestyle of reservation Indians. He does important work through his writing.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fragmented collection of poems and short stories that reveal pieces of the author’s life. You get pieces of how important his father, basketball, and his friendships were during this time, and you get some implicit and explicit commentary on relations between white people and native Americans. The best part about a collection like this is that you can almost read it in any order and get something out of it.

I’m not sure where Sherman Alexie is today, but I hope he’s doing well.

[Will Dole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've dipped into a few of Alexie's books, this was the first one I've finished.

Sherman Alexie has an ability to paint with his words a couple of realities which many authors fail to portray. First, that broken people are capable of beautiful acts of love and loyalty. Second, that seemingly "together" people are themselves very broken. There are no flat characters in his writing.

I found the short stories to be stronger than the poetry, but I don't read a ton of poetry.

[H Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The entire time I was reading this thin little book, I was at the brink of crying. I almost want to give group-hug to random people.

I read “Pawn Shop” and I was done. I felt raw. It might as well be my beating heart “… I leave, searching the streets, searching storefronts, until I walk into a pawn shop, find a single heart beating under glass, and I know who it used to belong to, I know all of them.”

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this! It’s Alexie’s very first published book. These are great poems and stories full of word play and emotion. It’s interesting to see how he uses the same character names in some of his work later on, the same archetype and similar stories with variations on them that make them feel so different yet connected with themes and histories.

[Edmund Davis-Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stuff. I preferred the short narratives to the poetry. l prefer his short stories and especially "Part-Time Indian" which I adored. This was much slower going for me. I sometimes (or often) read too many books at once.

[A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This man, Sherman Alexie, sexually abuses women serially and I will never support his work.

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