tommy orange has written an unusual american novel.ause, for most of his readers, it will be their firstjourney into native american life, to the sound of a dozen voices of the characters who are bound for the big powwow and who each tell their own story about how their way of life has become urbanized, about the anger that's always simmering underneath, because many of them have become outcasts in their own country. about the tragicomic scene at the powwow itself, when they put on the feather headdresses and do traditional dances. the novel, there there, is a funny and sad picture of contemporary american life from a startling and original point of view. welcome. did you think consciously when the book was taking shape, that you were talking many of your readers about something of which they would know very little? i actually wrote more for other native people. i was in a native writing community, the school that i teach at is the institute of american indian arts in santa fe, new mexico. and even though some of the information, some

tommy orange has written an unusual american novel., it will be their firstjourney into native american life, to the sound of a dozen voices of the characters who are bound for the big powwow and who each tell their own story about how their way of life has become urbanized, about the anger that's always simmering underneath, because many of them have become outcasts in their own country. about the tragicomic scene at the powwow itself, when they put on the feather headdresses and do traditional dances. the novel, there there, is a funny and sad picture of contemporary american life from a startling and original point of view. welcome. did you think consciously when the book was taking shape, that you were talking to many of your readers about something of which they would know very little? i actually wrote more for other native people. i was in a native writing community, the school that i teach at is the institute of american indian arts in santa fe, new mexico. and even though some of the information, some of the native audience kno

written by nate american author tommy orange, it sheds light on a group of people long stereotyped, andten ignored. jeffrebrown traveled to oakland california, for the latest from our newshour bookshelf. >> brown: dimond park in oakland california: tommy orange spent hours here as a kid-now visits with his wife and son. he grew up down the street, the child of a white mother and native american father. >> sometimes you feel like you belong right in the skin that you have, and sometimes you feel like an alien and all the different spaces in between.ge >> brown: or acclaimed debut, "there there," is novel of voices-- a dozen characters exploring what it means to be native american in an urban setting, not on a reservation. >> i wanted to have the range of experiences for these native characters, so different ages in different contexts and different s,ruggles and backgrou various different proximities to their native identity. some struggle with it and some a n't. so i wanted to havnge of what it means to be native right now.fo >> brown: r 36-year-old raange, an enrolled member of the chey