Reznet

'Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong'

By Heather Skinner

The University of Minnesota Press announces a new book called:

"EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT INDIANS IS WRONG"
By Paul Chaat Smith
University of Minnesota Press | 192 pages | April 2009
ISBN 978-0-8166-5601-1 | hardcover | $21.95
Indigenous Americas Series

In this sweeping work of memoir and commentary, leading cultural critic Paul Chaat Smith illustrates with dry wit and brutal honesty the contradictions of life in "the Indian business." In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee, Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience, and even the best of intentions sometimes ends in catastrophe.

"In 'Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong,' Paul Chaat Smith pulls no punches and delivers not a few body blows. Smith's clear and at times sardonic voice expresses everything Indians might have wanted to say but up to now didn't feel they could. Through references to contemporary and popular touchstones he sweeps away generations of sentimentality, nostalgiz and accommodation that mark the relationship of Indians to the mainstream. We may flinch at his analyses where there are no innocents, no villains, but we cannot hide. Smith pushes the 'minority experience' past victimhood and infantilization to self-agency and determination." — Lowery Stokes Sims

"If you like the western absurdities of William Eastlake and the beautiful brutalities of Evan Connell, you're going to love the 'histo-ironics' of Paul Chaat Smith's 'Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong.' As for me, I'm just pissed off that I didn't write this goofy, profound, and wonderfully mean-spirited book." — Thomas King

For more information, including the table of contents, visit the book's Web page. For more information on the Indigenous Americas Series, visit the series' Web page.

Heather Skinner is a publicist at the University of Minnesota Press in Minneapolis.