Old School Indian, Aaron John Curtis
Old School Indian, Aaron John Curtis
List: $22.00 | Sale: $15.40
Club: $11.00

Old School Indian

Author: Aaron John Curtis

Narrator: Jason Grasl

Unabridged: 9 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/06/2025


Synopsis

A Kirkus Editor’s Pick • A Most Anticipated Book of 2025: Cowboys & Indians | Brit + Co | Debutiful Most Anticipated Book of 2025

“With amazing dexterity, Aaron John Curtis’s moving debut novel, Old School Indian, combines raucous humor with respect for ancestral traditions.” —Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

"A novel of pure heart and mastery.” ―Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit

"An inspired novel by an author whose voice absolutely sizzles on the page.” ―Nathan Hill, New York Times bestselling author of Wellness and The Nix

A coming-of-middle-age novel about an Ahkwesáhsne man’s reluctant return home and what it takes to heal.

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 and never looked back.

Now forty-three, Abe is suffering from a rare disease—one his doctors in Miami believe will kill him. Running from his diagnosis and a failing marriage, Abe returns to the Rez, where he’s persuaded to undergo a healing at the hands of his Great Uncle Budge. But Budge—a wry, recovered alcoholic prone to wearing punk T-shirts—isn’t all that convincing. And Abe’s time off the Rez has made him a thorough skeptic.

To heal, Abe will undertake a revelatory journey, confronting the parts of himself he’s hidden ever since he left home and learning to cultivate hope, even at his darkest hour.

Delivered with crackling wit, Old School Indian is a striking exploration of the power and secrets of family, the capacity for healing and catharsis, and the ripple effects of history and culture.

About The Author

Aaron John Curtis is an enrolled member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, which he'll tell you is the white name for the American side of Akwesasne. Aaron has judged for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance prizes, the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, and the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Since 2004, Aaron has been Quartermaster at Books & Books, Miami’s largest independent bookstore. He lives in Miami.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dana on March 14, 2025

My review won’t do this book justice. I made the mistake of stopping in the middle and reading another book (due to timing issue). Don’t be me. Read it straight through, preferably in a day or two. Maybe read it again. There’s a lot here. If it weren’t for explicit violence and sex it would be great......more

Goodreads review by Kristen on May 19, 2025

For some reason, the idea of a coming-of-middle-age story captured me when I read the blurb for "Old School Indian", and I knew I had to request a galley of it. Maybe it was the spin on the typical coming-of-age genre, or maybe it's because I, myself, am approaching the years in which the main chara......more

Goodreads review by Jason on May 20, 2025

Fantastic, fantastic book…4.5 stars for me. Full of insights into the contradictory nature of the human experience, this work educates, humors, teaches, emotes, and shines light on so many of the big questions that must be considered in a well lived life. I’m THRILLED that the author will be at my hom......more

Goodreads review by Rina on April 20, 2025

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of this ARC. All views and opinions are my own. “Old School Indian” is a fascinating story of a Native American man who returns to his hometown while dealing with a seemingly incurable disease, and pondering his life choices, his identity and his career and rela......more

Goodreads review by Briana on May 13, 2025

This should be in your radar. This is a voice I look forward to reading in the future. While my arc’s format was very wonky on my kindle, I could grasp just have amazing this book is. The mix of poetry with prose. Witty, sharp commentary. Well done.......more