Flight: A Novel [Paperback]

Sherman Alexie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2007

The best-selling author of multiple award-winning books returns with his first novel in ten years, a powerful, fast and timely story of a troubled foster teenager — a boy who is not a “legal” Indian because he was never claimed by his father — who learns the true meaning of terror. About to commit a devastating act, the young man finds himself shot back through time on a shocking sojourn through moments of violence in American history. He resurfaces in the form of an FBI agent during the civil rights era, inhabits the body of an Indian child during the battle at Little Big Horn, and then rides with an Indian tracker in the 19th Century before materializing as an airline pilot jetting through the skies today. When finally, blessedly, our young warrior comes to rest again in his own contemporary body, he is mightily transformed by all he’s seen. This is Sherman Alexie at his most brilliant — making us laugh while breaking our hearts. Simultaneously wrenching and deeply humorous, wholly contemporary yet steeped in American history, Flight is irrepressible, fearless, and again, groundbreaking Alexie.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A deadpan "Call Me Zits" opens the first novel in 10 years from Alexie (Smoke Signals, etc.), narrated by a self-described "time-traveling mass murderer" whose name and deeds unravel as this captivating bildungsroman progresses. Half-Indian, half-Irish, acne-beset Zits is 15: he never knew his alcoholic father; his mother died when he was six; his aunt kicked him out when he was 10 (after he set her sleeping boyfriend on fire because the boyfriend had been forcing Zits to have sex). Running away from his 20th foster home, Zits ends up, briefly, in jail; soon after, he enters a bank, shoots several people and is shot dead himself. Zits then commences time-traveling via the bodies of others, finding himself variously lodged in an FBI agent in the '70s (helping to assassinate radical Indian activists); a mute Indian boy at the Battle of Little Big Horn; an Indian tracker named Gus; an airplane pilot instructor (one of whose pupils commits a terrorist act); and his own father. Zits eventually comes back to himself and to an unexpected redemption. While the plot is wisp-thin, one quickly surrenders to Zits's voice, which elegantly mixes free-floating young adult cynicism with a charged, idiosyncratic view of American history. Alexie plunges the book into bracing depths. (Apr.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

His first novel in over a decade, Sherman Alexie's Flight winds themes of alienation, revenge, and forgiveness through its narrator's time-traveling adventures. Critics were impressed with the clever Zits: his thoughts and actions are both humorous and painfully genuine, the essence of troubled adolescence. However, reviewers complained about the lack of depth, of fully developed secondary characters, and of historical detail. Many critics also noted that the plot's swift pace and tidy ending were more appropriate for juvenile fiction. The New York Times, on the other hand, considered these elements part of the novel's charm. Though Alexie's latest effort may disappoint some readers, many will still find snatches of his trademark humor and moving prose.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat; First Edition edition (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802170374
• ISBN-13: 978-0802170378
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Native American

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adolescent Connections, October 7, 2007

By 

Edward A. Heinssen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flight: A Novel (Paperback)

Sherman Alexie reaches out to every adolescent who has ever felt isolated, alone, or embarrassed about themselves. The protagonist, Michael (or "Zits") embodies the very essence of adolescent behavior: he lashes out against authority; he seeks acceptance and friendship from a boy that shares similar beliefs; he speaks in a tone and voice that is a perfect replica of most teens today; and, Zits searches for his identity at a point in his life which mirrors when most teens are uncertain of who they are. Each of these important life experiences offer the reader a chance to connect to this dynamic character.

The language that Sherman Alexie uses really is sophisticated, relatable and engaging. Zits uses foul language to protect himself. Basically, the language Zits uses serves as a defense mechanism, and in turn, shows his reluctance to open his heart. Zits usually reacts with statements like, "You bet your plopping a** I'm laughing at you," (15) when he wants to avoid conversations or agitate someone. This is by no means the crudest of his language usage, but for this review, I chose to keep it as clean as possible. Check it out to see what other hostile comeback responses Zits responds with.

As a future high school English teacher, I am a little reluctant to use this book during the beginning of my career because of the crude language used at times, but I would definitely recommend this book to all tenured teachers who want to share endless conversations about adolescent behavior.

For those readers out there that just want to curl up with an engaging quality read, I recommend this book to you as well.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In light of recent tragedy, this book is a must read!, April 21, 2007

By 

MCO "rock reader" (Appleton, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flight: A Novel (Paperback)

I have pretty much loved everything that I've read of Sherman Alexie's. He is absolutely brilliant, and his latest work is no exception. I found out about this book from a recent NPR interview with Mr. Alexie and bought it the next day. In a few short days, I was finished with it.

I'm not sure that it would have had such a strong impact on me if it hadn't been for the recent incident at VT. Such an event is difficult to make sense of, but reading this book about a person who justifies random murders in his head is eerily similar to what happened. Is killing ever all right? How many things do we justify to ourselves that may be in the scheme of things really unjustifiable?

What I was really in need of after something so awful was hope. This book helps give the reader hope that people can change; people can realize their mistakes and undo the brainwashing they have done to themselves.

In the end, a little bit of hope goes a long way, and this wonderfully written and insightful book manages to give just that. Please read it!!!

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Do you know where we might find this Justice?", October 7, 2007

By 

Daniel J. Barkan (Miller Place, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flight: A Novel (Paperback)

Flight starts out strong with a narrator, Zits, whose cynicism and penchant for philosophy are dead on for a teenager trying to make sense of the world and of himself. Zits is on a quest for identity, empathy, compassion, and a little wisdom. But first he must come to terms with his desire for revenge against a world that treats him as a problem to be solved rather than a person to be loved. Throughout, Zits is charming, endearing, and funny.

However, the moment the time-traveling and body-hopping begins, the book slows to a crawl. Rather than pushing the narrative forward, these devices act as self-contained, motionless lessons about the cyclical nature of violence and the impact of history on the present. Zits is essentially passive through these episodes, with only the smallest ability to exercise his own will while some hidden god-like entity forces information into his eyes and empathy into his heart. Instead of acting to learn about these things on his own, understanding is essentially downloaded into him. And since the narrator is passive throughout all of this, the reader feels passive as well. The story becomes dull.

Worst is that the book implies that if the people in our society who are horribly disenfranchised could only understand the historical contexts (both societal and personal) that have made them disenfranchised, they'd stop being so angry and bitter about it, and may try to restart their lives with a new name and a new attitude. This is then topped off when Zits (again as if he's being manipulated by a divine force) lands in a foster home with a family that finally seems like they want to love and take care of him. When this happens, the reader is happy for Zits, and there's no question that this is what Zits deserve, but at the same time it's uncertain whether or not this is something he has earned or achieved, or if he's just gotten lucky. And if it is luck or heavenly will that lands him there, then what is the lesson for people who feel the world, God, and Fate never cut them a break? What does that say about the nature of justice?

Still, the book is not awful. It is well written and the pages turn quickly. Anyone (and teenagers in particular) will enjoy and benefit from Zits's philosophizing about everything from the nature of obscenity to the righteousness of revenge.