Old School Indian

“[An] entrancing new voice . . . Aaron John Curtis will be your new literary obsession.” —Marion Winik, The Boston Globe

“With amazing dexterity, Aaron John Curtis’s moving debut novel, Old School Indian, combines raucous humor with respect for ancestral traditions, revealing that home is not only where a heart resides. Home is a place in our spirits, in our histories, in our memories—home is a longing that never leaves us.” —Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

“Old School Indian is an inspired novel by an author whose voice absolutely sizzles on the page. Aaron John Curtis has given us a moving story of self-discovery that journeys through the crucibles of sickness, history, identity, family, and loss—all told by one of the most inventive, funny, brash narrators you’ll ever find. A beautiful, dazzling debut.” ―Nathan Hill, New York Times bestselling author of Wellness and The Nix

“Electrifying. . . . This astonishes.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“An affecting tale of loss and healing that thrives through its seriocomic style.” —Kirkus, starred review

“With its profound exploration of identity, language, and cultural survival, Old School Indian commands attention. Through the vivid and deeply human lives of a Mohawk family, Curtis weaves a narrative that insists we listen closely and engage deeply. The characters, grounded in both tradition and the challenges of modernity, speak with a voice that is both urgent and timeless, drawing us into a world where every word, every action, carries the weight of history and the hope for the future. Curtis strikingly balances humor and gravity, creating a story that forces us to confront our assumptions, demands to be heard, and ultimately reminds us of the enduring, sacred power of storytelling. Old School Indian joins the ranks of the finest fiction written by Indigenous peoples, past and present. This is a novel of pure heart and mastery.” ―Morgan Talty, national bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit

“Exceptional… bestows meaning, power, and humor.” —BookPage, starred review

“[A] sharply comic and touching debut.”—Booklist, starred review

“Aaron John Curtis’s audacious debut is not just a novel. It is personal and collective history dancing on the page to wake us to the world around us. By examining the colonization of a body and a people, Old School Indian addresses our festering wound of a need to heal, challenging us to use memory as a remedy and our purpose as a cure. You’ll laugh, you’ll think, you may even shed a few tears and sit in wonder at the ingenuity and sheer balls of this work and author. An instant classic that will continue to beat in readers’ hearts for generations.” —Mateo Askaripour, New York Times bestselling author of Black Buck and This Great Hemisphere

“Aaron John Curtis gives us honest storytelling shaped by humor, sincerity, and heartbreak. His characters are drawn with strength from his Indigenous community and skillfully cured by tradition and hope. Old School Indian is a novel that reminds us of an essential truth: When one person heals, the entire community can feel it.”—Oscar Hokeah, PEN/Hemingway Award-winning author of Calling for a Blanket Dance

“This is my favorite kind of storytelling: chock-full of humor and grief, packed with intriguing family lore, and written with a tremendous amount of heart. Aaron John Curtis has crafted something powerfully complex here; a novel that invites you to sit down, take a beat, and share space. This book is a feast for the senses—it’s an incredible meal you’ll want to share with your friends. Old School Indian is exceptional.” —Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things

“Curtis’ debut novel holds the power to open eyes to who Indigenous people truly are. Brave, funny and irreverent, Old School Indian reveals what separates us from each other—but also from ourselves. As Abe endures the painful internalized racism that comes from filtering who he is through what the world says about him, his journey indicts all the relationships that ask us to filter who we are through narratives of oppression. And at its heart, this is a story about what it means to practice care.” —Chelsea T. Hicks, author of A Calm and Normal Heart and National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree

“Bold, smart, and bighearted, Old School Indian tells a new kind of story about ancient wounds. This big, ambitious novel goes straight to the heart of things, uncovering emotional truths embedded in unseen personal and indigenous histories. A wonderful, potent read.” —Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Fencing with the King

“Reading this book was cold water on a summer day. Aaron John Curtis descends into the divided self to bring forth a hilarious, profound and unsentimentally wise story of a Mohawk family and one son’s search for relief that transcends the physical. A gorgeous exploration of the restorative bonds of kin, the wages of history, and the stories that break and remake us.” —Ana Menéndez, Pushcart Prize-winning author of The Apartment

“A coming-of-middle-age story that is bound to restore your faith in healing and exacerbate your mid-life crisis just a tad.” —Caroline Cabe, Cowboys & Indians

“A piercing, warm, and witty book that bears witness to the protest of existing and to the right to remake and reimagine our own myths.”―Lena Waithe, Rishi Rajani, and Naomi Funabashi, Hillman Grad Books