Old School Indian

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