Nasdijj Biography

January 2006: BookBrowse Note: An essay in LA Weekly by Matthew Fleischer has revealed that Nasdijj is not who he claims to be - the books are actually the work of 'S/M gay porn pioneer' Tim Barrus.

"Nasdijj's" first 'memoir', "The Blood Runs Like A River Through My Dreams", is a plagiarized version of Sherman Alexie's short story, "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," published in Esquire in 1993. The following two volumes of "memoirs" appear to be equally false. You can browse Sherman Alexie's own National Book Award winning memoir here.

The two publishing houses connected with Nasdijj have already ended their relation with him, although a spokesperson for Ballantine Books says "We severed our relationship with Nasdijj several years ago due to issues not related to his identity or background."

"'Nasdijj's" biography as supplied by his publisher
Nasdijj was born in the American Southwest in 1950. His grew up partly on the reservation—his mother was Navajo—and partly in migrant camps around the country. He has been writing for more than decades, making ends meet by reporting for small-town papers, teaching, and migrant labor. He is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams, which was a New York Times Notable Book, a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, and winner of the Salon Book Award. "Nasdijj" is Athabaskan for "to become again." He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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