Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
There There meets All Fours in this irreverent coming-of-middle-age story about an Indigenous man’s hunger for intimacy, healing, and a second chance.
There There meets All Fours in this irreverent coming-of-middle-age story about an Indigenous man’s hunger for intimacy, healing, and a second chance.
- Sale Date
- ISBN
- 9781638934189
- Page Count
- 352
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 5½ x 8¼
- Imprint
- Tin House
Meet the Author
Aaron John Curtis
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE MARK TWAIN PRIZE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE • FINALIST FOR THE CHAUTAUQUA PRIZE
"A novel of pure heart and mastery.” ―Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit
There There meets All Fours in this irreverent coming-of-middle-age story about an Indigenous man’s search for intimacy, healing, and a second chance.
Abe Jacobs is Kanien’kehá:ka from Ahkwesáhsne, or, as white people say, a Mohawk Indian from the Saint Regis Tribe. At eighteen, Abe left the reservation where he was raised. He met the love of his life, started writing poetry, and chose to open his marriage—building a life far from the Rez.
Now forty-three, Abe is facing a relationship teetering on collapse and a rare yet fatal diagnosis. When he returns to the Rez to undergo a healing from the hands of his Great Uncle Budge—a wry, recovered alcoholic prone to wearing punk T-shirts—Abe is forced to reckon with who he’s been, and who he might still be.
Delivered with crackling wit and heart-wrenching tenderness, Old School Indian is a revelatory exploration of culture, ancestral histories, and the power they hold.
"An inspired novel by an author whose voice absolutely sizzles on the page.” ―Nathan Hill, author of Wellness and The Nix
"A novel of pure heart and mastery.” ―Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit
There There meets All Fours in this irreverent coming-of-middle-age story about an Indigenous man’s search for intimacy, healing, and a second chance.
Abe Jacobs is Kanien’kehá:ka from Ahkwesáhsne, or, as white people say, a Mohawk Indian from the Saint Regis Tribe. At eighteen, Abe left the reservation where he was raised. He met the love of his life, started writing poetry, and chose to open his marriage—building a life far from the Rez.
Now forty-three, Abe is facing a relationship teetering on collapse and a rare yet fatal diagnosis. When he returns to the Rez to undergo a healing from the hands of his Great Uncle Budge—a wry, recovered alcoholic prone to wearing punk T-shirts—Abe is forced to reckon with who he’s been, and who he might still be.
Delivered with crackling wit and heart-wrenching tenderness, Old School Indian is a revelatory exploration of culture, ancestral histories, and the power they hold.
"An inspired novel by an author whose voice absolutely sizzles on the page.” ―Nathan Hill, author of Wellness and The Nix
Praise for Old School Indian
“With amazing dexterity, Aaron John Curtis’s moving debut novel, Old School Indian, combines raucous humor with respect for ancestral traditions, revealing that home is not only where a heart resides. Home is a place in our spirits, in our histories, in our memories—home is a longing that never leaves us.”
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“Old School Indian is an inspired novel by an author whose voice absolutely sizzles on the page. Aaron John Curtis has given us a moving story of self-discovery that journeys through the crucibles of sickness, history, identity, family, and loss—all told by one of the most inventive, funny, brash narrators you’ll ever find. A beautiful, dazzling debut.”
―Nathan Hill, New York Times bestselling author of Wellness and The Nix -
“Electrifying. . . . This astonishes.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review -
“An affecting tale of loss and healing that thrives through its seriocomic style.”
Kirkus, starred review
Press for Old School Indian
About the Imprint
Where the literary canon of tomorrow is born. Critically acclaimed titles that challenge, illuminate, and linger. Discover award-winning fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from emerging voices you’ll say you found first.
