A searing, deeply moving memoir about family, love, and loss from the critically acclaimed, bestselling National Book Award winner. When his mother passed away at the age of 78, Sherman Alexie responded the only way he knew how: he wrote. The result is this stunning memoir, filled with raw, angry, funny, profane, tender memories of a childhood few can imagine, much less survive. Featuring 78 poems and 78 essays, Alexie shares raw, angry, funny, profane, tender memories of a childhood few can imagine-- growing up dirt-poor on an Indian reservation, one of four children raised by alcoholic parents.