Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Sacred Smokes

By: Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Narrated by: Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.95

Buy for $14.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Growing up in a gang in the city can be dark. Growing up Native American in a gang in Chicago is a whole different story. This book takes a trip through that unexplored part of Indian Country, an intense journey that is full of surprises, shining a light on the interior lives of people whose intellectual and emotional concerns are often overlooked. This dark, compelling, occasionally inappropriate, and often hilarious linked story collection introduces a character who defies all stereotypes about urban life and Indians. He will be in listeners' heads for a long time to come.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., an associate professor and the chair of Native American Studies at the University of Montana, is a creative editor for Transmotion, an online journal of postmodern indigenous studies. His fiction and photography have been widely published. He is also the editor of The Faster Redder Road: The Best UnAmerican Stories of Stephen Graham Jones (UNM Press).

Keywords: The Bright List, Blackfoot Sioux, Indigenous, Native American, Social Activists, Memoir, Chicago, Urban Indian

©2018 Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (P)2020 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Sacred Smokes

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Van Alst Deserves Your Eyes And Ears

Sacred Smokes is a dope book. Learned a lot about my new Twitter buddy, @TVAyyyy. You've gotta love the stream of consciousness technique he often uses in these quasi-autobiographical tales. Man, he's got wit for days. I laughed and had a good time while also raising my brows at his beautiful stretches of prose.

I listened to the Audible edition and he narrated it himself. I don't think anyone else could've done a better job. He's got VOICE, and I ain't talking about his tangible voice skills or the voices he gave the characters. He's got that oomph that you want from stories like these. His voice is important and more people need to hear it.

Learning about his backstory and the way in which he grew up made me want to meet Van Alst some day and hang. He seems like too cool a dude, and I can't wait to see what else he's got up his literary sleeve.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great stories, perfect for an audiobook

Wonderful compassionate tale of growing up male, poor, and Native on the Northside of Chicago. Gritty but the live of the place and people come through. Reminds me of Algren and Pasolini.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful