Sherman Alexie can do no wrong in my book. I was first introduced to his work through his movie Smoke Signals, but I think my memory about the movie is wrong. I could have sworn I first saw the movie when I was living in north Idaho where the movie is set. But it came out in June 1998, which is the month I moved to Boise. Anyway, Alexie’s trademark style is to handle sadness and pain with tenderness and humor. Salt is no different. A young Indian intern working the obituary desk at the Spokane Spokesman-Review confronts his own mortality. The piece didn’t affect me as strongly as some other Alexie pieces have, but it’s still awesome. And Strathairn, a pretty old guy, does a wonderful job reading the part of a young guy.

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