An Interview With Adrian C Louis Essay — страница 2

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from suckers, basically. What happens at a lot of these Indian outfits is people come in and don’t know what they’re doing and who are greedy and corrupt. I think one of the problems is that down the road even white towns are going to switch over when they see the benefits, or potential benefits of gaming. And once they do that, then there’s not going to be any reason to go to an Indian reservation and gamble. (Pause) I’ve never been a big fan of gambling. GO: You write about the big issue of alcohol, the firewater world. Do you drink anymore? AL: No, I don’t, as a matter of fact. I mean, it’s been a problem I’ve had most of my life. I guess a little over 10 years ago I just up and quit. I think about it a lot. I just one day said it comes down to either deciding to

live or deciding to die, and I guess I decided to live. And in order to do that, I had to quit this shit. GO: Is that why you moved out of Pine Ridge? AL: That had something to do with it, yeah. Everybody I knew was drinking. GO: What would you say are the overriding concerns, themes in your work? AL: Well, the overall theme in my work is personal survival. I’m writing about my life. I guess deep down I sort of fancy myself as speaking for certain kinds of people who don’t have a voice–for the downtrodden. GO: How would you differentiate yourself from, say, Sherman Alexie? AL: Oh, that’s a hard question. Sherman’s younger than I. He’s better looking. He’s famous, he’s made a movie. Oh my God, the poor guy, he’s got recognition. (Laughter) I’m old enough to be

his dad for Christ’s sake. GO: What do you think of the U.S. these days? AL: Oh, it’s here. I try to ignore it if I can. (Pause) This country was founded on violence. So its kind of like karma coming back to haunt us, you know. When the Spaniards came into the towns here they killed more Indians than Hitler killed Jews in his ovens. It’s a greater holocaust here than there was in Europe during World War II. That’s a historical fact. America is a schizophrenic country. On the one hand, it purports to be the peace loving center of the universe. On the other hand, it’s got everything it has from violence from taking and taking. GO: Yeah, that was a great quote you had in one poem from AP, from somebody in Iraq who said, "You’re treating us like a bunch of Red

Indians." What do you think about the bombing going on now in Serbia? AL: Well, I’d feel a lot better about it if they could get some pilots who knew how to fly, and dropped their bombs where they’re supposed to. I’d feel better if we didn’t have a guy like Clinton running the show. GO: What do you tell your students when you’re teaching them to write or teaching them English 101? AL: Number one, learn the basics of grammar. Number two, don’t ever think your words are carved out of stone. Words can be thrown away. Reused. And when you write something, always set it aside and let it age for a while and come back to it. And just stick with it. Writing is a career that, except for the very few, offers little reward. GO: Do you write any prose, any fiction? AL:

I’ve written two books of fiction. I’ve had a novel come out in ‘85.and a collection of short stories in ‘91, "Skins" (Random House). And a collection of short stories that came out in ‘96 was published by the University of Montana. (Pause) My more recent books kind of detail my current state of affairs. GO: What’s your current state of affairs? AL: Oh, just chaos and sadness. I’ve been contemplating old age a lot. I’ve got a wife who just four years ago came down with early onset of Alzheimers. She’s in a nursing home down here. (Pause) If you get the chance, there’s a book called "Ceremonies of the Damned." Check that out if it’s around. Source: http://www.taoswebb.com/geronimo/june99/interview.html Copyright ? 1999 by Geronimo: a

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